Trichotillomania

Hi Philly Chick,

Ironically, I just finished reading an article about trichtillomania before I logged on.

The article states that between 5-15 percent of the population has this in the US. 93% is women. It also states that sufferers feel the exact same way you have discribed. It has a calming effect when they are the least bit nervous and it can feel good at times..

They also list some helpful websites www.aabt.org,
www.trich.org and www.StopPulling.com.

They list some helpful books also. I'm sure you can find lots of information at your local library.

The article was inModern Salon March issue, HOWEVER you cannot attain this magazine because it is only sold by subscription to professionals. I would suggest that you ask your stylist if they read publication and if they have read the article.

Thank you for sharing your story.

Hello all,

Many of you probably have never experienced this. I am just finding out what this is called today. Here is my story. When I was a little girl, my mother used to always yell at me for picking my naps in the back of my head. I guess it annoyed her. There wasn't any balding or thining of the hair. She would just scold me for doing that. Well...my parents would tell me the story about how I loved hair when I was a baby. They even talked about one time when I was in a park and I went over to a man (that I didn't know) and started rubbing on his hairy legs. I guess I found it fascinating. Well aftera while, I would still pick the back of my head. It was never anything major. After a while I notice that I like to pull out my eye lashes. I dont know what caused me to do that , but it was horrible. And I am not just talking about when you pull your lashes when they itch. I am talking about sitting in the mirror and plucking your eye lashes out. It was like a nightmare. Till this day I dont know what caused that. I called it a curse. That is the only thing I could think of. Well, I pulled them out till they were about gone. Let me make a picture out for you. Imagine that you look at your eye lashes and there isnt any lashes in the middle of your eye. Creepy right? Well, that is how both of mine were. It was horrible. Well...don't ask me how, but I stoped picking my eye lashes. I dont know how. But of course, I always picked in the back of my head. Well, things got worse. I was ending my 11th grade school year and was constantly picking my hair. Not just the back ends, but in my head . I mean pulling the hair out! It wasn't too bad. The picking lasted all through 12th grade and that summer. It was like I concentrated on a couple of spots in my head to pick. Those paticular spots felt good to pick at for some odd reason. My hair was shoulder length at the time, so I could actually cover up my bald spots with the longer pieces of hair. Eventually I had to wear my hair in a style I hated. A SIDE PONY TAIL! I had to wear it that way in order to hide my bald spots. Before I moved away from home, my mother was scolding me about my hair and she insisted that I see some mental doctor. I thought that it would stop just like the eye lashes did. I thought it was just a curse. I would think and wonder what I had done to deserve this. Well, I went away for a while and my hair started to show so many noticable bald spots. The front was the one spot you couldnt notice spots. It was the sides and the middle. The very back...ponytail end was still there and nothing else. Yes, it was a little hair there all over my head, but also very short. I would pick and pull out my hair and I would think that the root at the tip of the hair was fascinating. SICK EH? Well, I don't know if any of you have ever pulled out a piece of you hair and noticed the root. The root is usually wet and yucky, but I would insist on rubbing the root of the hair inbetween my fingers. I thoght that was a gross habit. well, everyday I consist on picking my hair out and covering it with a piece of hair or something. I wear a head scarf most of the times. Since it has been years and I still didn't quit the pulling I decided to look up "Pulling of the hair". That is how I found this site. Now that I know what I have (Trichotillomania), I will try the Dr's techniques in triying to stop. I will also try to see a doctor. becuase as i type right now, I am continously pulling out my hair. Well everyone Wish me luck.

Ciao Bella!