Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling)

Mr Sparkle · Feb 17, 2022

Thought I would make a thread in case others wish to discuss their thoughts and experiences on hair-pulling disorders aka trichotillomania.

GiftedNotFree · Feb 17, 2022

There was a thread previously but I’m not sure what happened to it. Thanks for starting this!

lurkingaround123 · Feb 17, 2022

Oh my god I am so happy to see this thread! I have a patch which i pull at the bottom left of my head and its so much shorter than the rest of my hair, it is driving me mad because I can't stop doing it! Has anyone ever been able to reduce the amount they do it? Except obviously putting it in a bobble

Mr Sparkle · Feb 17, 2022

lurkingaround123 said:
Oh my god I am so happy to see this thread! I have a patch which i pull at the bottom left of my head and its so much shorter than the rest of my hair, it is driving me mad because I can't stop doing it! Has anyone ever been able to reduce the amount they do it? Except obviously putting it in a bobble

I've got the same patch in the same place! Lol.

I've had two periods where I have reduced my pulling. Once was in second year of uni and I'm not sure why it stopped/restarted, and the second was last year when I started a little rewards system where I gave myself a little treat every X number of times I resisted the urge. It helped for a few months and I even grew some eyebrows!

Most recent attempt to stop is by starting to meditate, hoping it'll calm my mind down a bit.

lurkingaround123 · Feb 17, 2022

Mr Sparkle said:
I've got the same patch in the same place! Lol.

I've had two periods where I have reduced my pulling. Once was in second year of uni and I'm not sure why it stopped/restarted, and the second was last year when I started a little rewards system where I gave myself a little treat every X number of times I resisted the urge. It helped for a few months and I even grew some eyebrows!

Most recent attempt to stop is by starting to meditate, hoping it'll calm my mind down a bit.

Thats such a good idea about the rewards system! I'm going to try that.
I think I am doing it more recently because I am stressed about money etc, but once I start and the patch gets short it takes ages to grow back so its one minute of relief for months of hair growth. So frustrating

Alexaj · Feb 17, 2022

Ack I've suffered from this! Mostly as a teenager. I remember my mum pointing out a little bald patch on the top of my head which mortified me enough to mostly stop. The eyelash and eyebrow pulling stopped because it was too noticeable and I'm vain. Now it's occasionally I pull from the very bottom of my hair but it has to be a split end to get yanked out. And it's through boredom, not through stress which doesn't seem to tie in with what I've read online for the reasons behind trichotillomania.

Begborrowsteal · Feb 17, 2022

I dont pull, but ive been picking at my head so much dry patches, pick at it, scabs and i pick that. My scalp is so sore from it

esoes · Feb 17, 2022

Begborrowsteal said:
I dont pull, but ive been picking at my head so much dry patches, pick at it, scabs and i pick that. My scalp is so sore from it

I do the same and I can't stop and I always think it must look awful if anyone sees me doing it.

I also pull my eyelashes and eyebrows when stressed so now have a bald patch on one eyebrow which looks daft. I've really, really worked on resisting the urge and so the longer hairs kinda cover the patch. But I can't stop with the head picking.

Mr Sparkle said:
Thought I would make a thread in case others wish to discuss their thoughts and experiences on hair-pulling disorders aka trichotillomania.

Thanks for starting the thread I've never really talked about it so it's good to have the thread a s a safe space.

Begborrowsteal · Feb 17, 2022

esoes said:
I do the same and I can't stop and I always think it must look awful if anyone sees me doing it.

I also pull my eyelashes and eyebrows when stressed so now have a bald patch on one eyebrow which looks daft. I've really, really worked on resisting the urge and so the longer hairs kinda cover the patch. But I can't stop with the head picking.
Thanks for starting the thread I've never really talked about it so it's good to have the thread a s a safe space.

I dread going to the hairdressers, my scalp must look manky!!

esoes · Feb 17, 2022

Begborrowsteal said:
I dread going to the hairdressers, my scalp must look manky!!

Same and my hair isn't very thick to hide it.Have you found anything that helps? I find if I really take my time using a lovely shampoo and conditioner in the shower and rubs at the bits I usually pick, it helps. It helps it heal up a bit and so I can usually resist the urge better that day. But it's pretty short lived!

Rocknrolla · Feb 17, 2022

I’ve been having lash extensions which I pull out, I was having weekly infills. Anyway this week I’ve had to cancel my appointment, I’ve pulled that much I’ve hardly any lashes left to attach an eyelash to. Hoping they’ll grow back as at the moment i resemble a boiled egg

Mr Sparkle · Feb 17, 2022

lurkingaround123 said:
its one minute of relief for months of hair growth. So frustrating

Yesss this is it! What makes it such a frustrating disorder. We can spend days/weeks working really hard to repair the damage and regrow, only to have it all ruined in one sitting.

Things I'm finding helpful as the years go by:

- Reminding myself it'll grow back, in order to not ruin my mood for the rest of the day or "resign" myself to more pulling

- Eyebrow tattoos lol, I spent years freehanding eyebrows and my teenage photos are mortifying!

- Saying "NO" out loud to myself when I manage to put my hand down before pulling. Working from home helps in that sense haha! I don't know why it helps but sometimes it does break that "spell" trance like state

- Building my confidence. Which would be weird for my friends/family to hear as I'm a naturally confident person. But I've always found it hard to flirt with people as I'm self conscious that they'll notice I have no brows/lashes under my makeup

Rocknrolla said:
I’ve been having lash extensions which I pull out, I was having weekly infills. Anyway this week I’ve had to cancel my appointment, I’ve pulled that much I’ve hardly any lashes left to attach an eyelash to. Hoping they’ll grow back as at the moment i resemble a boiled egg

I look like a thumb when I wake up in the morning

Rocknrolla · Feb 17, 2022

Mr Sparkle said:
Yesss this is it! What makes it such a frustrating disorder. We can spend days/weeks working really hard to repair the damage and regrow, only to have it all ruined in one sitting.

Things I'm finding helpful as the years go by:

- Reminding myself it'll grow back, in order to not ruin my mood for the rest of the day or "resign" myself to more pulling

- Eyebrow tattoos lol, I spent years freehanding eyebrows and my teenage photos are mortifying!

- Saying "NO" loudly to myself when I manage to put my hand down before pulling. Working from home helps in that sense haha!

- Building my confidence. Which would be weird for my friends/family to hear as I'm a naturally confident person. But I've always found it hard to flirt with people as I'm self conscious that they'll notice I have no brows/lashes under my makeup

I look like a thumb when I wake up in the morning

Aw it’s awful isn’t it? Each time I tell myself ‘no you’ve just paid a lot of money for these lashes’ it lasts about 3/4 days then I am picking and pulling again I was the same when I wore hair extensions, picking and pulling them out causing damage and patches. I am a hairdresser so I really should know better.

Begborrowsteal · Feb 17, 2022

esoes said:
Same and my hair isn't very thick to hide it.Have you found anything that helps? I find if I really take my time using a lovely shampoo and conditioner in the shower and rubs at the bits I usually pick, it helps. It helps it heal up a bit and so I can usually resist the urge better that day. But it's pretty short lived!

My hair is thick, but issues with thyroid/iron mean my hair has been falling out loads and thinning so some of the areas are a bit more noticable. The hair loss upsets me to the point i hate washing it as i see how much comes out

Mr Sparkle · Feb 17, 2022

Re feeling self conscious

Someone said to me once that we notice other people's smiles, and facial expressions, and glittering eyes when they talk to us. And that's what I try to remember on days where I am self-conscious about my eyes, or bald spots/hairline. It helps sometimes

GiftedNotFree · Feb 17, 2022

Mr Sparkle said:
Re feeling self conscious

Someone said to me once that we notice other people's smiles, and facial expressions, and glittering eyes when they talk to us. And that's what I try to remember on days where I am self-conscious about my eyes, or bald spots/hairline. It helps sometimes

I love this. It really does help. I’ve avoided a lot of social situations in my life because of my hair; even as far as being too self conscious to apply for jobs etc. it really can be debilitating.

SpindleWhorl · Feb 18, 2022

I had this as a teen and I got badly bullied at school due to my bald patches which shocked me so much I haven't done it since

Babyyoda88 · Feb 18, 2022

Begborrowsteal said:
I dont pull, but ive been picking at my head so much dry patches, pick at it, scabs and i pick that. My scalp is so sore from it

Oh my goodness me too. I keep making it worse and I swear I won’t do it again but the next day I’m picking at the dry patches again.

SwimmingPigs · Feb 18, 2022

I've had this since I was 11 but it's got worse in the last few years... I usually pull out the hair at the sides of my head, so my hair tends to grow out like a mullet.

Mr Sparkle · Feb 18, 2022

Little victory!

Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling)

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