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Trichotillomania-Hair Pulling

Archkinkist

OK this is getting severely out of hand; there is a mounting pile of hair on my desk and I neeeed to stop this! :frown:

Reply 1

Archkinkist

OP

So none of you find this a hair-raising topic then :biggrin:

Reply 2

MadeInCanada

Embarassingly enough, I do it. I pick at my eyebrows and my eyelashes especially. I tug at my hair too a lot. It's a really bad habit I need to break, lol

Reply 3

yawn

17

MrSornia

OK this is getting severely out of hand; there is a mounting pile of hair on my desk and I neeeed to stop this! :frown:

According to 'psych speak' the condition is a result of unexpressed hostility inwardly directed.

So if there is immense anger felt towards another person/s without being released, it is turned inwardly and directed towards the person feeling the anger. In much the same way as other types of 'self-mutilation'.

I don't know of any remedies. :frown:

Reply 4

musicbloke

17

yawn

I don't know of any remedies. :frown:

There's a magnificent remedy which is to shave all your hair off. That way you can't pull it.

MB

Reply 5

shootingstar

yawn

According to 'psych speak' the condition is a result of unexpressed hostility inwardly directed.

So if there is immense anger felt towards another person/s without being released, it is turned inwardly and directed towards the person feeling the anger. In much the same way as other types of 'self-mutilation'.

I don't know of any remedies. :frown:

not always the case. Sometimes people don't realise they're doing it, and in some cases its to do with OCD or a habit a person picked up in childhood. Other factors include tourettes syndrome or similar disorders. Depression and anxiety can also play a part.

My advice would be try counting to 50 until the urge dissappears. For this though, you have to be aware you're doing it. Also, try plucking hairs out of a teddy or something like that. Another tip, if you don't realise you're doing it, try to become aware if theres paticular things that offset you. For some, this may be reading, watching TV, stress, coursework. You could try wearing gloves during these periods, or plasters on your finger tips. Also, try applying vaseline to fingers, thus making the hair more difficult to grasp.

If you find yourself eating the hair, get down to the doctor immediately. This could lead up to a build up of hair in the stomach, which is completely indigestible. In one case, a 16 year old boy died from this.

Some medication may work. However, for individuals it's different, and in some cases the condition may worsen.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy may also help.

My personal trick is keeping a diary of when I feel triggered, and then writing any reasons I might be triggered. It helps.

Reply 6

shootingstar

musicboy

There's a magnificent remedy which is to shave all your hair off. That way you can't pull it.

MB

yes, but sometimes the regrowth can trigger trichotillomaniacs even more.

And it can also cause a whole image complex, which many trichotillomaniacs have. Often, a trichster may start pulling at hairs they feel are flawed (for example, crinkled, fine, too thick). So the shaving hair might not help.

Reply 7

shootingstar

zaaks786

im aint shavin my hair!!!! :eek:

but i have to stop!!
any ideas???? :confused:

see my first post in the thread here.

Reply 8

zaaks786

1

shootingstar

see my first post in the thread here.

thnx!
il try wat uve suggested!

Reply 9

shootingstar

zaaks786

thnx!
il try wat uve suggested!

if you want any more suggestions, let me know.

Reply 10

treff

1

MrSornia

OK this is getting severely out of hand; there is a mounting pile of hair on my desk and I neeeed to stop this! :frown:

Lol

You weren't kidding about what you said about crap. :biggrin:

Reply 11

musicbloke

17

lessthanthree

, I'd find some sort of distraction, or concern myself with attacking a rug or a piece of material that you can yank strands out of

Like a dog.

MB

Reply 12

JennyG

I never knew this was a condition!! I have been doing this for about 7 months and even had a bald patch at one point!! Now I have funny length hairs growing back and I really have trouble not pulling them out!

What causes this?? :confused:

Reply 13

Fleffzilla

3

Useful information

I found out I had this about 6 months ago, and I go through stages where I notice that I'm doing it, and can catch myself, and stages where I don't do it (or I don't notice).
About 4 years ago I pulled so much hair out of the back of my head that when it grew back I had a tuft that everyone could see, and since I was in school at the time you can imagine the sort of comments that got said.

As far as I know one of the best ways of stopping it is to realise when you're doing it, and make a diary of where you are, what you're doing, and how you feel (plus any other relevant information). You can then look back after a while to see what the common factor is, and then try and sort it out. That, and pulling hairs out of something else, say a teddy bear, can really help :smile:

Reply 14

luce20

I used to do this as a result of a) depression and b) OCD disorder and I used to check things like locking the doors several times. It became noticeable when during 6th form, someone said to turn around because I had a bold patch on my head. From that day I wore my hair up and have done till a week ago when Ive worn my hair down when Ive gone shopping. Believe me, this was something I was nervous about as I haven't worn my hair down in mid day since I was 16 and am now 21. I don't have many suggestions as ppl have said others in this thread, but putting my hair up did stop me doing it as much as I used to, and as getting older and more confident in myself, I realised I didn't want loads of scraggy ends in my hair and I told myself to stop doing it. After time, if you find your hand going to your head, say no and find an activity to do .i.e. homework, exercise, reading etc..

Reply 15

saz_1989

2

try wearing an elastic band round your wrist and snapping that instead. you still get the feeling of pulling something but then you wont end up bald

Reply 16

lostinfantasies

2

Slightly related to this topic - my brother used to pull out the hair on one side during his sleep. He ended up with half of his hair actually on the bed, and the doctor said he must have been stressed. AT FIVE YEARS OLD.

Apparently he did it because instead of sucking his thumb whilst sleeping, he subconsciously starting ripping out oodles of strands. o_0.

Reply 17

shootingstar

I also find wearing hats works a treat. I used to tuck my hair up into the hat, that way, contact with the hat would make me more concious of what I was doing. Still use that one.

Trichotillomania-Hair Pulling

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