Trichotillomania - The Compulsive Urge To Pull Out One’s Own Hair
A bald spot as one might get from trichotillomania.
People with trichotillomania, (Trich for short), feel the need to pull their hair out, often to the point where they have bald spots or thin areas. They may pull from any area but the most common areas include:
- The crown of the head
- The sides of the head
- The eyebrows
- The eyelashes
Many people with trich will only pull out a certain “type” of hair. These are commonly:
- Thin hairs
- Curly hairs
- Thick hairs
- The “Right” hair
Pulling out a hair
When a person with trich pulls out a hair, there is tension prior to the pulling. They often must find the “right” hair, or a “good” hair. When the hair has been pulled out, the tension ceases and the person experiences a “Good” feeling. About 50% of people with trich will do something that involves the mouth and the hair, for example, rubbing the root on their lips or chewing on the root. Some people even go as far as eating the whole hair. Often, almost immediately after, the urge to pull another hair follows, typically stronger than the first. This is why “I’ll-just-pull-one-hair” doesn’t work. This cycle can continue for hours.
Is it a Masochistic thing?
NO. To the person with trich, pulling out the hairs feels great (like really, really great)! This is only in their “pull spots”, if they were to pull a hair out from another area, it would hurt, just like it would for a typical person. It is categorized under self mutilation, because medical complications can result such as:
- Permanent hair loss
- Skin damage
- Ingrown hairs
- Development of a Trichobezoar (if hair is eaten)
Who gets it?
Usually, trich appears in the early teens, but can start any time, really. It has been connected to genetics and chemical imbalances in the brain. It is more commonly diagnosed in females, but some speculate that this is because it is easier for men to claim they have natural hair loss.
Treatment
There is no cure for trichotillomania, but there is treatment. This includes identifying what triggers a person to pull, by keeping a record of when where, what they were doing, how they felt, and how much they pulled. This can help the person learn to redirect the impulse. Sometimes medication is recommended. Occasionally, people will shave their heads to try to break the habit. An example of hair pulled from the side of the head by a person with trich. There are many opinions on how trichotillomania should be classified, but the main arguments are: obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder, Impulse control disorder, movement disorder, tic disorder, and addiction. Some disorders that are related and/or people with trich have a higher chance of also having are:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Obsessive compulsive disorder
- Trichophagia (compulsive eating of one’s own hair)
- Dermatillomania (compulsive picking of one’s own skin)
- Dermatophagia (compulsive biting of one’s own skin)
- Tourette disorder
Think you have it? You’re not alone.
It is hard to say for sure how many people have trich, because it commonly goes undiagnosed. It is estimated that 1- 5% of the world has trich. As a person with this disorder I can tell you this: Right after I was diagnosed, I called a friend and vented. Guess what I found out? She had it too! Later, when I went to get a haircut, the hair dresser noticed one of my bald spots and asked what it was. When I explained it to her, she told me that she used to pull her eyelashes out when she was trying to sleep, to the point that she had none. She also said that she cuts the hair of a woman with a bald patch over her ear that she pulled.
For more information, go to:
Trich.org,
OCDHope.com,
Wikipedia.org.
