Trichotillomania

is anyone here familiar with Trichotillomania, and what causes this? My sister has been pulling her hair and eating the ends of it for about 15 yrs now, mostly in the crown and sides, which has caused her to have bald spots. I ask her why she does this and always answers with an "I dont know". I am concerned that she will eventually go completely bald, or that the hair will just stop growing back. I didn't even know this was a condition till I read about it in Redbook the other day. If anyone has this condition or knows where I can get more information please let me know.
Sonialei@aol.com

No she isn't bald, but you can definately see where her hair appears to be very fine and thin on the top of her head, and sides... and it's a shame, she has beautiful waist length hair. Im actually surprised that her hair continues to grow after so long. She is 26 now and has been doing it since she was 10. I am curious as to what causes this, I don't know if this is just a habitual (phsycological) disorder, or if it's a lack of nutrients or poor diet that causes this. Her's hasn't become as bad a problem as others i've read about that resort to pulling out other hair such as eyebrows, underarms or pubic area... her problem is her head of hair and she is now admitting to experiencing itchy eyes, which leads to pulling of the eyelashes. She is a very bright, strong woman who can do anything she wants, except break this cycle of constant hair pulling. I've done lots of searches online, but nowhere has it been cleared up as to why this happens, and whether its a physical or mental thing.

I have trich too... well I had trich. Actually im not sure if you ever get over it I will probably always have i just have to controll it. I have had it for about 6 years now. Ive gone through period of time when I dont pull once for about 3 years even. My hair grew back fully but I had only pulled for about a year then i stated again fro about 6 months and stopped for another year and once agin my hair grew back fully. I recently started doing this again for a little less than a year when i decided i had had enough and have not pulled in 96 days. Im frusterated because mmy hair doesnt seem to be growing back at a normal rate...I have hair regrowth but nothign like i have expierenced in the past. It brings me to tears usually 3 times a week. It is so embarassing. Please try to support your sister, some members of my family know and no one supports me this is a hard disease to handle b y yourself so be nice to her. Dont call her out on it infrom of people, channces are she is already slef conscious about it. Dont make her fell abnormal because of it and dont ask her why...she doesnt know why she probably doesnt even know shes is doing it most of the time. SHe can get over this though....she just has to be strong. Im only 16 and dealing with this by myself...I imagine if i can do it than she can do it if she is 26 and has someone to support her. There isn't anything you can do but support her. Tell her to try clenching her fists when she wants to pull or giving you a dollar every time she does... the only thing that ever worked for me was self will to stop...she has to want to and im sure she does just help her as much as you can.

Trich is a mental/emotional disease that is a facination with the "popping" sound hair makes as it is being pulled out of the hair folicle. YES- there are people who can help! Check into different sites for more info.

Wow! You know what, I never thought that there's a 'term' with this problem, sorry for my ignorance. I never thought it exist, really. I've been dealing with this for about 15 years and I thought that I am the only soul in this green planet that has this problem, until I found out just today and the fact that 8 million Americans experiencing this disease. What a poor boy, indeed. It is such a relief to discover this! (Well, on the other side) I have my own share of this so-called "disease". I've been pullin my goddam hair since 10 years old. And I am now 25. By the way it is my biggest secret in my whole life and no one knows about it that I'm a bit bald in the crown and I'm trying to hide it using my hair on the other side, can you imagine? And also some part of my head is kinda thin. I am very pleased that some of my hair grew back through the years. But I'm fightin it now! Everytime I feel like pullin some hair, I just slap it with my other hand. Just wanna ask if I can use minoxidil/regroe to get back some hair or any other medicine. Because I heard that minoxidil/regroe is just for fallin hair, but it is not fallin hair, right? It is Trichotillomania, I mean it doesn’t fall naturally. I never use any medicine because I never seen a doctor, I’m really shy to ask anyone about this but now I have the courage to face it. Help. Thanks.

LostForever wrote: I sent you a pm about my experience... SNAPS for you for having the courage to face this! Keep doing what you're doing, and soon you will wonder why you ever felt that "urge to pull" it's like quitting smoking, or quitting drinking, or going on a diet! the first week or so is difficult - I will not lie- but after that it becomes easier and easier and you will finally forget about it.

 

Thank you so much. Keep in touch.

I had trich too mandapanda as you can read my post up there. you know it's just a matter of self control, yeah i know it's easier said that done but the willingness to do it. wear something that you know you can't touch your hair like a cap, bonet and stuff. c'mon baby you can do it. good luck!

Like I posted earlier, I understand "the urge" but whatever you do, don't
give into it! Imagine yourself with a full head of hair - do you really want
to give up on that? And then slowly move your hands to below your waist
and find something to do that involved keeping your hands constantly in
motion. Such as playing an instrument, knitting or making a collage.
You get a lot of crafts done this way too. LOL. Take up knitting and
make a scarf for each of your friends on their birthdays!

In the last few months, my hair pulling has gotten really bad. I've had a lot of stress because of switching schools, and I've pulled out a lot of hair around my hairline. It's very noticeable. I finally decided to stop and haven't pulled at all for weeks, but the hair isn't growing back yet. Does anyone know when my hair will start to grow back? I'm starting to get discouraged and worried that my hair will never look the same.