HWN Suggests

I Pluck My Eyebrows Until They Don’t Exist

A Google search a few years back informed me that the medical term for this is trichotillomania; “-mania” meaning obsession or addiction. And it is like an addiction: In the midst of an episode, picking my eyebrows is the only way to feel better. At the end of an episode, I feel ashamed, weak, stupid, ugly. I tell myself, This is not who you are. You are stronger than this. But really, I’m not. Trichotillomania falls under the umbrella of obsessive-compulsive disorders, and it’s not exclusive to eyebrows (that’s just my personal poison). It’s usually accompanied by some sort of social disorder or anxiety and is at least partly genetic. Trich is not curable, although some therapists have seen…

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Featured

 She Kept Her Condition Secret for Decades, Then Bared It All Online

Millions of people compulsively pick their skin or pull their hair. Social media is helping some of them to recover.

 Tearing our hair out: learning to treat compulsive hair-pulling

Trichotillomania is a blight on many people’s lives – and until now there has been very little understanding of how to tackle this distressing condition.

 ‘I wanted to stop … but I also wanted to pull’. 1 in 50 people have trichotillomania – a new memoir unpacks compulsive hair-pulling

Hair-pulling, or trichotillomania, does not come up much in public conversation. While terms such as ADHD, OCD or PTSD have almost passed into common parlance, hair-pulling is not well known, despite, as the author claims, affecting 2% of the population – an incidence greater than that of schizophrenia (0.32%) or bipolar disorder (around 1% over a lifetime).

Articles of Interest

Amy Schumer Opens Up About Having Trichotillomania, a Hair-Pulling Disorder

As it does for her fictionalized counterpart, Schumer’s hair-pulling disorder began during a troubling time in her adolescence, when her parents split up and her father declared bankruptcy and was diagnosed with MS, per People. In real life, as in the show, Schumer pulled out so much of her hair that she ended up wearing a wig to school.

Are You Bald By Choice?’

What they didn’t see was the emotional and sometimes physical anguish that prompted me to pick up the clippers in the first place. I’ve struggled privately with trichotillomania, a compulsive hair-pulling disorder, for more than ten years. Strange as it may seem, the disorder isn’t exactly uncommon: The Trichotillomania Learning Center Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs) estimates that some 1 or 2 in every 50 people experience the disorder, also referred to as “trich” (but not to be confused with trichomoniasis, the common and curable STD).

Engaging in a Hobby: Coping Strategies for Trichotillomania

Hobbies are a great way to unwind and relax after a long day. They provide an outlet for our creativity and allow us to take a break from the stresses of everyday life. But for those with Trichotillomania, a mental disorder characterized by the urge to pull out one's hair, engaging in a hobby can also serve as a coping strategy.

Fighting the Shame of Skin Picking

For many people with body-focused repetitive behaviors, the predominant effects are cosmetic, and the consequences emotional and social.

For Compulsive Hair Pullers And Skin Pickers, There Is Need For More Help

I feel the urge again. My fingertips run along my face, feeling for imperfections, and I slip into the bathroom to be alone. After a glance in the mirror, I stalk back out, my nails digging into my palms. Not today. Since my adolescence, I've had a tumultuous relationship with my reflection. That's because I suffered from trichotillomania, or hair pulling, and currently struggle with its cousin excoriation disorder, dermatillomania, or skin picking.

Four Things to Not Say to a Person With Trichotillomania

Don’t ask, “Why don’t you just stop?” Chances are, the person already asks themselves this question every day. This diagnosis can carry a lot of shame, and this statement assumes it is easy to stop pulling. If someone could stop, they would.

Hair Pulling

Hair pulling disorder or trichotillomania (trick-o-till-o-may-nee-uh) (TTM or “trich”) is characterized by the repetitive pulling out of one's hair. Trichotillomania is one of a group of behaviors known as body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), self-grooming behaviors in which individuals pull, pick, scrape, or bite their hair, skin, or nails, resulting in damage to the body. Hair pulling can occur on any part of the body that grows hair.

I couldn’t stop pulling my hair. What was wrong with me?

For the past two decades, I have lived with a mysterious compulsion: I pull out my own hair. It started when I was 8 years old. Lying on the couch one day, tense and restless, I discovered an eyebrow hair that felt out of place. I pinched it between my fingertips and pulled. Calm rushed through my chest. My arms buzzed with a tingly heat, triggering a feeling of release. Returning to my eyebrow, I pulled again and again, each pluck deepening my trance. Within 30 minutes, nearly my entire eyebrow had vanished.

Labryinth (trichotillomania)

dear trichotillomania i'm tired of treating you like a maze i can't escape i am the maze you are just another human inside of me trying to find your way out

Not Just A Bad Hair Day: What It’s Like to Have A Hair-Pulling Disorder

Once upon a time, hats, scarves, headbands and caps were my best friends. Even dupattas and ghoonghats (veils) started to look appealing to my 24-year-old self. Because no one knew my shameful secret, no one knew what I was hiding.

Personal Health; Help but no sure cure for hair-pulling disorder.

Trichotillomania typically starts either in early childhood, before the age of 6, or during adolescence and young adulthood, from about 13 to the early 20's. In early childhood it affects boys and girlsabout equally, but when it begins later, about 90 percent of patients are believed to be women.

Pulling Out Your Hair? This Might Be the Cause

Hair-pulling in an age of anxiety.

Reentering the World With Anxiety Eyebrows

It started as a pet name for the approximately three hairs scattered across my otherwise-empty brow bones: my Anxiety Eyebrows. What happened to the rest of them, you ask? Oh, I pulled them out. Mm-hmm, all of them. Hundreds of hairs, over and over, fingers animated by some unconscious, unignorable force—by some part of my brain that swore freeing the exact ri

Tearing our hair out: learning to treat compulsive hair-pulling

Trichotillomania is a blight on many people’s lives – and until now there has been very little understanding of how to tackle this distressing condition.

Trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder)

Trichotillomania is characterized by the repetitive pulling out of one's own hair leading to hair loss and possibly functional impairment. Trichotillomania has been documented in the medical literature since the 19th century.

Trichotillomania and Skin-Picking Disorder: An Update

Trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder) and skin-picking (excoriation) disorder are common neuropsychiatric disorders (each with a point prevalence of around 2%) but are underrecognized by professionals. Affected individuals repeatedly pull out their own hair or pick at their skin, and these symptoms not only have a negative impact on these individuals because of the time they occupy but can also lead to considerable physical disfigurement, with concomitant loss of self-esteem and avoidance of social activities and intimate relationships.

Resources

The TLC Foundation

The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors helps end isolation and shame for people experiencing hair pulling, skin picking, nail biting, cheek biting, and associated behaviors.

Trichotillomania Support

Trichotillomania Support, also known as BFRB Support, is an independent non-profit supporting people affected by trichotillomania and body focused issues. We stopped hair pulling and skin picking so you can too. Wherever you are in the world, we offer advice and support to adults, children, their friends and families.

StatPearls

Trichotillomania (TTM) also known as hair-pulling disorder, was first described in ancient Greece, but its current name was coined in the later part of the 18th century. In these cases the hair is pulled from anywhere on the body repeatedly, appearing as hair loss but is caused by the action of the patient. As this condition can greatly affect the appearance of the patient, it is associated with societal stigma.

What Is Trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania (TTM) may be funny word, but the disorder it describes — hair pulling — can be a serious problem for children and teenagers. Trichotillomania comes from the Greek words trich (hair) and tillein (to pull or pluck), and it is characterized by the purposeful pulling of one’s own hair from any part of the body. TTM can be difficult to diagnose since those with the disorder are often secretive about their hair pulling and subsequent hair loss. And treatment is challenging because the hair pulling helps them manage negative emotions.