Growing hair with Trichotillomania?

[Maverick494]

Hi all,

Like you all I am growing my hair long. What is holding me back however aren't split ends, damage from hair dye or any of that stuff.

It's Trichotillomania, or Trich, in short. It means that a person is causing hairloss by pulling their own hair out. Yeah, sounds crazy, I know. Who would want to do that? I don't, but it's like a tic, a habit like biting your nails or smoking cigarettes. I just keep doing it. I've always been an obsessive person (obsessed with sports, anorexia in the past, etc.) and now this.

Today I pulled twenty hairs out. With root and everything. I dunno, it feels good somehow. My mom is in the hospital so I'm kinda stressed about that. It always gets worse when I'm stressed. It's not the long hairs I pull out, but the coarse, shorter ones. You know, the ones some users here call 'head pubies'. Anyway. I feel kinda down right now. I really want to grow until I have flowing thick hair up to my butt. I just don't know how to do it when I have this nasty habit.

Anyway, just a ramble from me. Needed to get it off my chest. Thanks for reading, for those who did.

[sibiryachka]

As with most hair-related issues, LHC is the place to come for advice:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=4854&highlight=trichotillomania

[halo_tightens]

Yes, I know I've read posts/blogs by several members here who are struggling with trichotillomania. A search should turn up some info for starters, and hopefully these members will stop by your thread or profile to lend their wisdom and support.

Best of luck to you! :flower:

[spidermom]

Habits can be reversed. Good luck finding your way.

Maybe putting hair up and back, covering it with scarf, hat? Wearing gloves?

[BelleBot]

I used to have Trich. I'd pull out hundreds of strands every day and was left with several small bald patches. It got so bad at one point it looked like I had a receding hairline as I'd lost several inches from my hairline from self plucking. I didn't even realise I was doing it. I'd only realise when I noticed a huge pile of hair around me. It was dreadful.
Mine was definitely stress triggered. Fortunately I'm not having any problems with it at the moment.

The best thing I found to stop myself pulling hairs out was braiding my hair and wearing it up in buns, wearing hats and also gloves. I probably looked a little odd wearing hats and gloves indoors, but it stopped me pulling hair out.
You can try and shift the behaviour and replace it with something else. I found needlework helpful and playing the guitar, doodling etc. But to really kick it you need to suss out your trigger and try and sort that, not easy, but the only sure fire way to kick the problem.

Good luck, I'm still growing out my bald patches, they look like oddly placed layers at the moment. I also had a heavy blunt fringe cut to hide the mess my hairline was from plucking out hairs and stop me looking quite so bald.

[swellmel]

i had/have it. it was much worse a few years ago. it i've had trich for years but it's never really affected my hair's appearance until i switched meds. i was on zoloft and it was working great but switched to prozac because it was so much cheaper and money was very tight at the time. prozac is not a med i need to be on! it made me feel crazy and while i was on it my trich was out of control! i ended up with a very noticable spot at the back of my head- like where the part ends at the back. i had to wear my hair up in a ponytail any time i went in public for months and months. it is still growing out. i switched back to zoloft and the intense trich feelings went back to a much more managable level. stress is a trigger for me. that and in general my hands need to stay busy. i can't just sit and watch tv. i have to be doing something whether it be knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, tracing a sewing pattern. i still have trich but keeping my hands and mind occupied helps tremendously. it's a tough thing to have but it's not a hopeless situation!