Beating trichotillomania once and for all!

Reply 80

Anonymous #4

Original post by laurawatt

Beating trichotillomania once and for all!

(hopefully)

Hi

I have trichotillomania which sucks :grumble:

But this is a sort of blog I hope to keep to try and motivate myself to stop my trich forever! :rave:

(Emphasis on the word ‘try’ :lol:

)

What is trich?
Well it’s a hair pulling disorder, and you basically just have the urge to pull out hairs from your head, eyebrows, eyelashes etc.

It is sometimes likened to a mixture of anxiety and ocd which I would say is a fair judgement. For me it comes on most when I am stressed, although recently it’s just got pretty uncontrollable tbh :unsure:

What have I done about it?
I didn’t know this was a thing until about a year ago, despite suffering with it for about 3 years previously :cry2:

so I haven’t gotten any help for it. (Me + parents went to the doctors when I was about 10/11 because they saw my head was missing hair at the back (they assumed it was falling out and I said that it was bc I was too scared to say that I was pulling it out :redface:

)
- I would obviously recommend for anyone to go to the doctor if you have this or anything similar - there really is no positive of keeping it to yourself! -

So yeah that’s my story - I know this isn’t the most life-changing condition in the world, but it has had a big impact on my self esteem and mh in general :frown:

and I would really like to change this :yep:

Hopefully I can start updating this blog daily from tomorrow (13/09/18) and have a trich free day :crossedf:

(starting small)

Keep smiling :heart:

This has hit me really hard. I am terribly sorry this is what you have to deal with I am so proud of you for speaking up about it but from seeing this your actually not alone. I've done this since I was 11 years old and still do it to this day I'm 15. It's an urge for me to do it if im struggling with my anxiety and I struggle with it everyday. My hair used to be lovely dead thick hair! But over those years it's all different lengths and it's went really thin. My Mam knew when I was doing it at 13 years but done nothing about it! So. I Thought well I cant be doing anything wrong.. I am undiagnosed with this TRICH.. and anxiety as much as I want help I really don't have the right people or courage to speak up about my health and mental health. I am mostly ashamed of myself. But yeah.. I do it on the left side of my head and cover it over. I am so proud ofnya you've came so far xx

OP

Original post by Anonymous

This has hit me really hard. I am terribly sorry this is what you have to deal with I am so proud of you for speaking up about it but from seeing this your actually not alone. I've done this since I was 11 years old and still do it to this day I'm 15. It's an urge for me to do it if im struggling with my anxiety and I struggle with it everyday. My hair used to be lovely dead thick hair! But over those years it's all different lengths and it's went really thin. My Mam knew when I was doing it at 13 years but done nothing about it! So. I Thought well I cant be doing anything wrong.. I am undiagnosed with this TRICH.. and anxiety as much as I want help I really don't have the right people or courage to speak up about my health and mental health. I am mostly ashamed of myself. But yeah.. I do it on the left side of my head and cover it over. I am so proud ofnya you've came so far xx

Yep it’s really hard but we just have to keep going :yes:

I started when I was about 11 too :smile:

I don’t think my parents know, or if they do they never bring it up :dontknow:

I’m not formally diagnosed, and I know what you’re talking about, I’ve only told one of my friends. I pick at the back of my parting and right at the front of my head :redface:

Proud of you for writing this :jumphug:

you can do it it xx

OP

So i updated on the 18th and 19th with 2 trich free days in a row, and set the goal of a trich free week, and guess what? I did it!! :party:

I’ve made it a whole week (Sunday to Sunday :biggrin:

) all being trich free days :smile:

I was pretty relaxed during mock week, which definitely helped :yep:

and this last week has actually been one of the best in terms of my mood for a while now (you wouldn’t think a week of 10 exams would help my mental state, but it really has!) I think my November slump has finally started to go away :smile:

OP

(There were attempts mostly at my eyelashes, but none of them came out)

And my side eyelashes are finally starting to properly grow back, which is a huge buyback of motivation for me :yes:

So pleased for you laura :hugs:

OP

Original post by CoolCavy

So pleased for you laura :hugs:

Thanks cavy :hugs:

Also you just reminded me to submit the Christmas drawing thingy - it’ll be uploaded there in two minutes :smile:

Reply 86

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

Original post by laurawatt

So i updated on the 18th and 19th with 2 trich free days in a row, and set the goal of a trich free week, and guess what? I did it!! :party:

I’ve made it a whole week (Sunday to Sunday :biggrin:

) all being trich free days :smile:

I was pretty relaxed during mock week, which definitely helped :yep:

and this last week has actually been one of the best in terms of my mood for a while now (you wouldn’t think a week of 10 exams would help my mental state, but it really has!) I think my November slump has finally started to go away :smile:

So thrilled for you! :yay:

Reply 87

Vinny C

20

The names they come up with for new opponents for Supergirl never cease to impress.

Reply 88

zooxanthellae

12

Wonderful news! 🎉 It gives me hope that one day I’ll be able to control my skin picking :smile:

Well done. :jumphug:

OP

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

So thrilled for you! :yay:

Thanks TLG :woo:

Original post by Vinny C

The names they come up with for new opponents for Supergirl never cease to impress.

Laura vs the Trich :ninja:

Original post by Pathway

Well done. :jumphug:

Thanks you :smile:

Original post by zooxanthellae

Wonderful news! 🎉 It gives me hope that one day I’ll be able to control my skin picking :smile:

Thanks! I’m sure you will be able to - just try and work on it in small increments - try not to for an hour, then two hours etc.
You can do it :rave:

Reply 91

Vinny C

20

Original post by laurawatt

Thanks TLG :woo:

Laura vs the Trich :ninja:

Thanks you :smile:

Thanks! I’m sure you will be able to - just try and work on it in small increments - try not to for an hour, then two hours etc.
You can do it :rave:

Tricha 'Till' O'Brainiac… embittered Irish daughter of the Krypton supervillain.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 92

literallyno

9

Original post by laurawatt

Beating trichotillomania once and for all!

(hopefully)

Hi

I have trichotillomania which sucks :grumble:

But this is a sort of blog I hope to keep to try and motivate myself to stop my trich forever! :rave:

(Emphasis on the word ‘try’ :lol:

)

What is trich?
Well it’s a hair pulling disorder, and you basically just have the urge to pull out hairs from your head, eyebrows, eyelashes etc.

It is sometimes likened to a mixture of anxiety and ocd which I would say is a fair judgement. For me it comes on most when I am stressed, although recently it’s just got pretty uncontrollable tbh :unsure:

What have I done about it?
I didn’t know this was a thing until about a year ago, despite suffering with it for about 3 years previously :cry2:

so I haven’t gotten any help for it. (Me + parents went to the doctors when I was about 10/11 because they saw my head was missing hair at the back (they assumed it was falling out and I said that it was bc I was too scared to say that I was pulling it out :redface:

)
- I would obviously recommend for anyone to go to the doctor if you have this or anything similar - there really is no positive of keeping it to yourself! -

So yeah that’s my story - I know this isn’t the most life-changing condition in the world, but it has had a big impact on my self esteem and mh in general :frown:

and I would really like to change this :yep:

Hopefully I can start updating this blog daily from tomorrow (13/09/18) and have a trich free day :crossedf:

(starting small)

Keep smiling :heart:

This is such a good idea, keeping a tally really helps you notice that you’re doing it which is the hard part sometimes!
I’ve had trich on and off since I was 11 or so, always hair on my head, but luckily rn it’s under control. I think it’s easier with short hair because there’s less to pull lol

Good luck ❤️

Reply 93

markova21

21

Thank you for starting this post, Laura. I had never heard of this condition before, so it has been a real eye-opener for me. I think you are very courageous to come on here and tell people what you have to suffer with. Keep positive and stay strong. You'll kick it for good, i'm sure.

OP

26/11/18 (yesterday)

Hair count:
0 :rave:

27/11/18

Hair count:
0 :woo:

(so far)

i'm really pleased with this because i could barely manage a trich free day a month ago :smile:

Reply 95

OxFossil

19

Only just seen this thread, and it's brilliant. I have a feeling that trich is really much more common than it seems, and there isn't much help and advice out there about it. You doing this diary is definitely going to help other people as well as yourself.
Also, i am amazed at how much progress you have already made - such a hard thing to do on your own. Um...go you ! (if that's what you young people say?)

OP

Original post by literallyno

This is such a good idea, keeping a tally really helps you notice that you’re doing it which is the hard part sometimes!
I’ve had trich on and off since I was 11 or so, always hair on my head, but luckily rn it’s under control. I think it’s easier with short hair because there’s less to pull lol

Good luck ❤️

it's good that it's under control :woo:

thank you

Original post by markova21

Thank you for starting this post, Laura. I had never heard of this condition before, so it has been a real eye-opener for me. I think you are very courageous to come on here and tell people what you have to suffer with. Keep positive and stay strong. You'll kick it for good, i'm sure.

thank you markova21 :h:

thank you and i'll try my best!

Original post by OxFossil

Only just seen this thread, and it's brilliant. I have a feeling that trich is really much more common than it seems, and there isn't much help and advice out there about it. You doing this diary is definitely going to help other people as well as yourself.
Also, i am amazed at how much progress you have already made - such a hard thing to do on your own. Um...go you ! (if that's what you young people say?)