Trichotillomania Thread!

[Clem_Dela]

"Trichotillomania is the compulsive urge to pull out one's own hair leading to noticeable hair loss, distress, and social or functional impairment, and in some cases one may even consume the hair."


I've had this problem for years, starting when I was fourteen or fifteen, when i pulled compulsively until i had a pretty big spot right in the middle of my scalp!!!! :vomit:

After that i managed to quit for a while and started again probably a bit less than a year ago (age 17). This one wasn't as bad and the spot was less noticeable but I still changed my part, carefully french braiding over it to hide....

Anyway I managed to quit again but now i'm struggling, again, at age 18. :( I keep finding those shorter hairs that just grew back, and sometimes they feel different from the rest of my hair... thicker, more sproingy and wiry, and i just want to pull it out because it doesn't match the rest of my hair. It's reaching a point where it is a bit thinner in an area but it's not noticeable.

Who else has Trich? How bad is it and how do you deal with it? Do you do it mostly when you're stressed or depressed, or when you find singular flyaways and just pluck them away?

And for goodness sake how do I quit?! this certainly is a... "trichy" situation!

[brave]

Would it help if you constantly had your hair up? Maybe not being able to pull out your hair so easily would be enough to help protect it, since it's probably a pretty unconscious habit?

[Clem_Dela]

I don't think so, because the hairs i have a problem with pulling are shorter and don't go into hair styles.
I think i really just need something else do do with my hands subconciously.

[Maverick494]

I had trich in the exact same way you do. Nothing too extreme like you see on TV sometimes, but I had a bald spot on the back of my head where I pulled the hair out and the wiry, kinky regrowth that came after. Like you, I also parted my hair differently to cover it up.

Try to find the triggers for your trich.
- I tended to pull more often when my hair was getting greasy, so washing it more often helped in that regard.
- I pulled less when I was wearing a hat or a cap or a beanie.
- I pulled when I was bored. So basically always give your hands something to do.
- I pulled when I was stressed. So now whenever I'm stressed I go do something that tires me. Exercise, sports, anything. It helps clear your mind and keep the hands away from your head.
- whenever you feel one of those wiry ones, tell yourself that they're part of the hair, weird or not. I found that making an effort in thinking this helped fight the urge. In my experience, if you let them grow, they normalize by themselves. I now have several hairs on my head where the ends are kinky and wiry and the rest is smooth and normal. Sometimes I even cut the weird part off so I wouldn't be tempted to pull them anyway.

It's hard, but you can beat this! Just make more of an effort. I knew exactly what I was doing whenever I pulled a hair, but I just didn't try my best to stop it. Then one day I decided I'd stop trying and start doing. That worked.

[pelicano]

I had trich in the exact same way you do. Nothing too extreme like you see on TV sometimes, but I had a bald spot on the back of my head where I pulled the hair out and the wiry, kinky regrowth that came after. Like you, I also parted my hair differently to cover it up.

Try to find the triggers for your trich.
- I tended to pull more often when my hair was getting greasy, so washing it more often helped in that regard.
- I pulled less when I was wearing a hat or a cap or a beanie.
- I pulled when I was bored. So basically always give your hands something to do.
- I pulled when I was stressed. So now whenever I'm stressed I go do something that tires me. Exercise, sports, anything. It helps clear your mind and keep the hands away from your head.
- whenever you feel one of those wiry ones, tell yourself that they're part of the hair, weird or not. I found that making an effort in thinking this helped fight the urge. In my experience, if you let them grow, they normalize by themselves. I now have several hairs on my head where the ends are kinky and wiry and the rest is smooth and normal. Sometimes I even cut the weird part off so I wouldn't be tempted to pull them anyway.

It's hard, but you can beat this! Just make more of an effort. I knew exactly what I was doing whenever I pulled a hair, but I just didn't try my best to stop it. Then one day I decided I'd stop trying and start doing. That worked.

I can't tell you how helpful this post is to me. :flower: I don't have such a problem as to have bald patches, but I have lots of short hairs, as I have a real tendency to pull out the wiry ones when watching TV or reading. I've done it for years. I'm really going to try to either leave them, or cut off the really wiry part so I leave it alone!

[Carissamarie08]

There's already a thread about this that I created with a lot of posts on it.

[Carissamarie08]

Either way you are not alone!

[Clem_Dela]

Maverick, thank you, that is extremely helpful, i'll try out these tactics.

Carissa, could you direct me to the other Trich thread?

[Carissamarie08]

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=85275&page=10

[naopll10]

This is a zombie thread but it's time to revive it for the current trich suffers like me. Mine's trichophagia though. I chew it. It started when I was 14 and hasn't stopped.