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Trichotillomania


sillyoldbear

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i did just do a search through the forums and found a topic in trichotillomania but it said it was too old for me to post. So i thought i would start a new post

it is something that i have had for about 12 years but has only become a major problem in the last 2. I started off pickin grey hairs out- yes i was just 14! i was also pretty obsessive about plucking my eyebrows but for some reason i never think of that as being when i started. about 2 years ago i noticed while in the car that i had a small bald patch on my crown, i couldnt believe it!- it was at that moment that i realised i had a problem. I mean i was often pulling out the odd hair coz it felt funny or wiry and would examine them as they had funny colour changes along the shaft. but when i was pulling to the point where i had a pile of hair i knew it was time to do something. i made an appointment and saw a dr, by this time i had four bald spots, they were getting harder and harder to hide. having long curly hair helped and i could pile it up on my head and it look fine, no one would know. i was given medication but it didnt help, it got worse and worse. at one point i had virtually no hair at all on the top if my head. this led to me buying a couple of wigs. i cannot control my pulling at all, i also pull from my under arms, legs and pubic area, more often with tweezers than fingers. i also chew on the root- there are certain ones that are really quite satisfying!. my medication was changed when i had a mini breakdown a few months ago. 2 months ago i had my hair cut very short, bit like a pixie actually and it looked really good, but since i have been in bed with my last flare up, now 10 days in agony, my pulling has got so much worse. i dont think i am going to be able to go out without my wig again, i really wish there was something i could do and stop pulling, even if i focused on everywhere else i would be happy with that. Ash has taken to letting my pluck his hairs on his arms etc and i have to say it does help, for if i am pulling his hair out i am not pulling my own!!!!

do any of you have any tips and tricks for not pulling?

simone

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Hi there, so sorry you are suffering with this! I pick at my skin rather than pulling hairs, but i've scarred my face up pretty bad doing this, as well as a few particular areas of my body.

For me, the only thing that has helped has been third chakra meditations. I pick more when drinking or when i have premenstrual acne. So stopping drinking, and trying to get mindful of when i enter the picking trance. Once i'm in the trance, i'm done.

One product i find helpful is the proactiv brand sulfur clay masque. I put on a thick coat on the place i'm dying to pick at. When my fingers touch it, they back off. If they do pick, they peel off the masque instead of the flesh.

dunno if this helps with hair pulling, but just wanted to let you know i hear you.

love and light,

cat

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thanks for your post. sorry to hear you also suffer

with my hair pulling it was originally when i was stressed, not it is pretty much constant, doesnt matter what mood i am in, its kind of become as much of as a habit as a need and no matter what i do i cant stop, i wore hats and wigs and they are fine whilst i wear them but as soon as i take it off then my hand is straight to my head. i am even doing it now while typing. i have spoken to others with trich who say that if they pull 3 then its bad, i really dont want to exaggerate but i pull more like 33 and now all of what is growing back is coming through grey!

most of the time i dont realise i am doing it and i have to say that i dont really get the satisfaction and relief from it that others talk about

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What about putting a rubber band on your wrist and snapping that instead?

The tranced-out part is for me the total worst, it's deeply dissociative.

Gloves or socks on your hands at night?

Cutting your nails way back and keeping them painted thick so you can't get a grip....

getting rid of all tweezers...

just more ideas, i'm a bit manic at the moment :blink:

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funny you should say cutting my nails, they are very short and i am growing them now thinking it may stop me coz i wont want to break them!

the biggest thing that actually helps is to be kept occupied, but that just isnt possible 24 hours a day, even for 12 hours a day as i need to be sat down a lot. Doing my crafting and card making helps as my hands are busy doing other things.

i do wonder if i should be seeing someone about it and having some sort of therapy- even wondered about hyponotherapy? i do worry that i am even more abnormal in that fact that i dont do it in the typical way that others do- most, in fact no one, i have come across pulls constantly and to the effect that i do- makes me wonder if there is something more deep rooted?

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  • 3 weeks later...

I know I'm late in posting...being a newbie and all :)

I suffer with Trich too, I pull from my head, eyebrows and pubic hair...it gets worse the more stressed/deppressed I am, and it also started with finding those weird little hairs, but also due to self harm, it seemed more satisfying than cutting because nobody knew about it, or atleast until I had a huge bald spot on my head and no pubic hair.

My doctors tell me it is OCD, I also have a panic disorder OCD too...I think thats how they put it, I always think I'm going to die or something majorly bad is going to happen to me, that one is called Thanataphobia....and its so scarey that it puts me into a trance state.....I research and research things that I think are going to hurt me, its so bad I can't work.

juat thought it'd be nice to know you're not alone :)

Lainie x x x

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hi Lainie, thank you for posting

sorry you are going through the same thing and the thanatophobia sounds awful too. my trich is just getting worse an worse, even since my earlier post i have got a bald patch that is 2" x 4" above my left ear and not much different on the other side. , not much on top either, more thin than bald but there is a patch on my crown. i am at my wits end with it. i have no pubic hair either- but i pull that with tweezers rather than by hand, i do even tweeze my head hair too. i started tweezing out grey hair but now i can just sit with tweezers in my hand and pull- i find it so satisfying to get a root, particularly a good one, i am embarrassed and ashamed to admit that i do chew the root too- again very satisfying to feel my teeth crunching through the root. i so wish i could stop.

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I also use tweezers for my pubic areas, I found my ex was helpful with the pulling, he'd forever be telling me to stop, it worked though...except in times of stress or when I'm very drowsey from my medication, I got to the point that I didn't know i was doing it.

I'm not better, I still pull but am finding my psychologist helps a lot, mine was triggered from self harming and also finding those irritatingly odd hairs, it is apparently just a different way of harming myself other than cutting.

We'll support each other hun :) I'm not so well at the minute so, just writing this is helping make me feel better, if you need me...give me a shout, I can't stop you pulling but I can talk to you about it if you wish :)

Lainie x x x

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  • 1 year later...

OMG I'm not the only one!

YEP... pulling from arm pits, legs, arms, pubic areas, face, feet...well let's face it-EVERYWHERE!

sILLYoldbear-poor you! I have never had to wear a wig because I've always had masses of hair but it must be so traumatic!!!

I like to chew the roots too. Sometimes I keep someof the hairs for a while and just like to touch them and run them through my teeth-I even had a little box where I would store them!!!

I'm so obsessed it's a joke really. I have so many scars from pulling and digging and cutting out stubborn leg hairs... im pulling right now-boooo!

I have no advice because I can't help myself but all I would say is that picking hair from legs/ arms etc prevents you from doing your head so much.

HUGS XXX

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