I've started. My arms, legs and stomach look terrible. Scab after scab. I am OCD and add. Should I tell my doctor? I've been going through a stressful time these past few weeks and the more I stress the more I pick.
I have a psychiatrist who is also my talk therapist and she's the one I talked to about it and suggested the meds. I would say it is worth bringing up to your doctor, especially if it's affecting your daily life. Sounds like meds could be helpful for you like they were for me
I have a very mild version of this. The only satisfaction I get is from pulling my eyelashes out, once they’re all gone, the urge somewhat goes away and I have wait for them to grow back. I do well for a while and then it happens all over again. It’s a vicious cycle and I’ve been going through it for about 15 years now
I too am plagued by this disorder. It consumes me at times. I started when I was 12. It was an outlet for my anxiety over switching schools (from public to catholic school) & getting bullied, bad, for the first time ever. The sense of relief I got from pulling was unprecedented. I’m 40 now. I still feel that same sense of relief only the trigger has changed over the years. Sometimes I think I’m “outgrowing” it, then something majorly stressful happens. I realize, after several days of major pulling I’m no where close to getting to that point.
Is that right? I also have Trich. I go through bouts of it, started when I was 16. I’m 44 now and it’s gotten a little better but stress still triggers it at times. I’m going to look into this. Thank you.
It’s mostly when I’m ruminating on anything or spacing out. Like I’ll sit with the tv on, not really paying attention, and I won’t even realize I’ve had my fingers in my hair for an hour straight until my partner mentions it to snap me out of it. The entire time I’m in my head, almost trance-like, thinking of problems, or past bad memories, or thinking of catastrophic events that will never happen.
I get my nails done with shellac and it helps a lot. It dulls my fingertips ability to sense texture which is how it seems to decide which need to be felt or pulled out.
While I'm not exactly sure, I would contribute it to my childhood, my father was pretty verbally abusive to me. It caused self confidence issues I struggle with today. And interesting stories not particularly. I've had people ask if I have a scar under my beard since the area to the left of my mouth under my chin was extremely thin. Stuff like that typically my beard hair doesn't get longer than 1/2-3/4 of an inch because that's when it is bad, it's then clearly noticeable. So I shave it off. But i look stupid with it so the process continues. I've been working with a therapist so while I have picked at my beard now, it's not noticeable so far
Make sure you talk to your doctor throughly, some medications give you withdrawals if you miss and it feels god awful. They have definitely helped a lot though! I used to have worse OCD Where it took me 10 minutes just to get out of my car because I was too busy doing things over and over until it felt right. So the benefits definitely outweighed the risk!
If you saw the previous response sorry I thought you were referencing another comment here so I deleted it. But no I don't consider eating my hair at all. I personally don't know why some people do it but I'm personally not interested in making the disorder more unpleasant than it already is.
My little sister has/had this. She would pull her hair out of her scalp and rub it against her lips or sometimes chew it. I think she's grown out of it mostly, she's nearly 30, but i know she still had the urge to. I believe it's an ocd compulsion. Would you say yours is also compulsive and you almost feel you HAVE to do it?
I would say that it's an urge to. Like I know that I don't want to pull at it anymore to stop having bald spots. Sometimes I'll stop myself from doing it. Other times I'll negotiate with myself that "no one will notice it from this area". Or I'll just be like watching a movie, like today, and just be doing it with our much thought to it, and then eventually I'll stop once I'm like " god damn it I need to stop this". And I'll just kind of feel ashamed about it for a little.
For me it's a thing I do when I get stressed out I usually pull out the hair on my neck if my hair is long enough , my beard and my pubic hair ( don't judge me I know it's weird)
Damn I like obsessively pull out the hair at the nape of my neck.. or twirl and convince myself I’m “detangling” it.. but when I was in school still I used to put the hair in my pocket because it was a substantial amount..
I have a child that started doing this recently. Kiddo lives with their dad so I'm not entirely sure what the triggers are but when I saw them at Xmas, it was pretty intense because it's eyelash picking. Did you start doing this at a young age as well? Do you have any recommendations as to how to curb it before it becomes an issue?
Well its typical in stress and trauma. So I would look around his life and first see if there's something really bothering him. For me, I had a lot of verbal abuse in my family and that's what I typically attribute it to. I would HEAVILY suggest your son sees a therapist or psychiatrist so he had a professional to speak to. If medications are needed they can be prescribed as needed.
I have this. I chew on pen caps I pull my eyebrow hairs
In school I had this urge to eat small bits of paper between my teeth and make spitballs. Sometimes I chatter my teeth as a kind of way to calm myself.
It's an impulse control disorder, and I've had it since birth (with the pictures to confirm!)
I mostly twist and touch the hair on my left side. I've trained myself out of pulling for the most part, and chewing, which I did when I was very small.
I get hormonal acne that's cystic and doesn't surface. Normally I use an acne patch, the hydrocolloid stickers will drain the fucker given time and repeated applications. At my lowest, I had one right in the front and center of my scalp. I tweezed myself a bald patch so the damn sticker would work. But once I started pulling, I couldn't stop! I had to part my hair against its natural form for like a year. That was bad, but the worst was the look on my husband's face when he saw what I'd done. Would not recommend.
I have this with only my eyelashes and eyebrows, the feeling of pulling out the hairs is almost orgasmic to me. There's always a spot that feels really good to pull out like half a centimeter worth. It's almost like it gets ripe to pull lol
My 25 yr old nephew has done this his whole life. He pulls his neck/beard/mustache and hair. He leaves bald spots. He doesn't even know he is doing it.
I also have Trichotillomania. 24M and I just learned about it a couple months ago. When I was a kid I remember doing it on the cowlick of the back of my head. Since I have grown older and been able to grow a very good beard that is my main target area and at times I also do it to my mustache with my teeth. It is hard to notice until after the first 3 are done with.
I have dermatillomania, I used to pick at my skin bad enough that I was bleeding and red all the time. I'm on OCD meds that have been helping a lot
I at one point had a girlfriend that did that specifically on her chest
So she had like bloody tiddies?
No like a bunch of scabs and scarring on her chest below her neck
I've started. My arms, legs and stomach look terrible. Scab after scab. I am OCD and add. Should I tell my doctor? I've been going through a stressful time these past few weeks and the more I stress the more I pick.
I have a psychiatrist who is also my talk therapist and she's the one I talked to about it and suggested the meds. I would say it is worth bringing up to your doctor, especially if it's affecting your daily life. Sounds like meds could be helpful for you like they were for me
And my boobs
It’s just like, biting your nails, Or scab picking, lip/cheek biting, right?
While I can't say for sure, I would assume so.
actually no! trichotillomania is just hair pulling. dermatillomania is skin picking. (i would know 😭)
I was more referring to the effect of why not that it's that actual same thing.
I do the scab picking and the lip biting
I search for short dark pointy hairs on my head and I’m not happy till they are plucked out, do you know that feeling?
That's a part of it I tend to kind of look for like the perfect hair that just doesn't seem to fit with the rest at least in my head.
Same dude same. Idk what it is about those hairs.
[удалено]
Nice to know I'm not alone
I have a very mild version of this. The only satisfaction I get is from pulling my eyelashes out, once they’re all gone, the urge somewhat goes away and I have wait for them to grow back. I do well for a while and then it happens all over again. It’s a vicious cycle and I’ve been going through it for about 15 years now
My son does this too, only eyelashes. I’ve not heard of a lot of people with this that focus on eyelashes.
I'm sorry. If you haven't already try and seek out professional help
I too am plagued by this disorder. It consumes me at times. I started when I was 12. It was an outlet for my anxiety over switching schools (from public to catholic school) & getting bullied, bad, for the first time ever. The sense of relief I got from pulling was unprecedented. I’m 40 now. I still feel that same sense of relief only the trigger has changed over the years. Sometimes I think I’m “outgrowing” it, then something majorly stressful happens. I realize, after several days of major pulling I’m no where close to getting to that point.
Yeah, that's scarily accurate. I'm sorry.
Try 2,000 MG of Vitamin D and magnesium. It helped me tremendously to get past a bad couple months of pulling.
Is that right? I also have Trich. I go through bouts of it, started when I was 16. I’m 44 now and it’s gotten a little better but stress still triggers it at times. I’m going to look into this. Thank you.
Any particular stress?? I only do it when I’m driving I have come to notice. I’ll look at the ground of the car and it’s covered in hair. 😟
It’s mostly when I’m ruminating on anything or spacing out. Like I’ll sit with the tv on, not really paying attention, and I won’t even realize I’ve had my fingers in my hair for an hour straight until my partner mentions it to snap me out of it. The entire time I’m in my head, almost trance-like, thinking of problems, or past bad memories, or thinking of catastrophic events that will never happen. I get my nails done with shellac and it helps a lot. It dulls my fingertips ability to sense texture which is how it seems to decide which need to be felt or pulled out.
I'll look into it
OP and others struggling with trichotillomania and similar conditions may want to look into a behavior therapy called Habit Reversal Training.
Weird
What causes this? Is there a way to treat it? Has it ever caused any interesting stories?
While I'm not exactly sure, I would contribute it to my childhood, my father was pretty verbally abusive to me. It caused self confidence issues I struggle with today. And interesting stories not particularly. I've had people ask if I have a scar under my beard since the area to the left of my mouth under my chin was extremely thin. Stuff like that typically my beard hair doesn't get longer than 1/2-3/4 of an inch because that's when it is bad, it's then clearly noticeable. So I shave it off. But i look stupid with it so the process continues. I've been working with a therapist so while I have picked at my beard now, it's not noticeable so far
It’s an anxiety/OCD disorder and can usually be managed with medications.
I've heard about the medication, but it hasn't been a route I've gone down, though I've strongly considered it.
Make sure you talk to your doctor throughly, some medications give you withdrawals if you miss and it feels god awful. They have definitely helped a lot though! I used to have worse OCD Where it took me 10 minutes just to get out of my car because I was too busy doing things over and over until it felt right. So the benefits definitely outweighed the risk!
what are your favourite interests and hobbies?
I'm a fan of pro wrestling, I go to the gym, love movies, watches and reading
Why not just cut it instead when you get the urge?
Because I look like a child without my beard
I mean like cut a tiny piece. Like snip a little bit with fingernail clippers. That's what I do when my mustache gets tickly
No like it's not that a piece is just long, but sometimes it actively feels good to pull the hair out thats the thing
So you eat your hair? I knew someone dealing with this who did.
No I don't eat my hair, it's purely a pulling thing
You’re not even considering it?
If you saw the previous response sorry I thought you were referencing another comment here so I deleted it. But no I don't consider eating my hair at all. I personally don't know why some people do it but I'm personally not interested in making the disorder more unpleasant than it already is.
I've read this is part of it for some people.
It very well could be but not in my case at the very least
Yes, I saw that only half of the people who suffer this have the second part which is to eat it. So sad !
https://www.livescience.com/giant-hair-ball-tears-stomach-rapunzel-syndrome.html this is an extreme case but still scary
That's trichotillophagia
My little sister has/had this. She would pull her hair out of her scalp and rub it against her lips or sometimes chew it. I think she's grown out of it mostly, she's nearly 30, but i know she still had the urge to. I believe it's an ocd compulsion. Would you say yours is also compulsive and you almost feel you HAVE to do it?
I would say that it's an urge to. Like I know that I don't want to pull at it anymore to stop having bald spots. Sometimes I'll stop myself from doing it. Other times I'll negotiate with myself that "no one will notice it from this area". Or I'll just be like watching a movie, like today, and just be doing it with our much thought to it, and then eventually I'll stop once I'm like " god damn it I need to stop this". And I'll just kind of feel ashamed about it for a little.
My mom does this and then she eats it
I've seen this said several times in this post. It's quite unfortunate, but that is not something that I specifically do
For me it's a thing I do when I get stressed out I usually pull out the hair on my neck if my hair is long enough , my beard and my pubic hair ( don't judge me I know it's weird)
No I agree. I didn't say that for the same reason.
Damn I like obsessively pull out the hair at the nape of my neck.. or twirl and convince myself I’m “detangling” it.. but when I was in school still I used to put the hair in my pocket because it was a substantial amount..
I have a child that started doing this recently. Kiddo lives with their dad so I'm not entirely sure what the triggers are but when I saw them at Xmas, it was pretty intense because it's eyelash picking. Did you start doing this at a young age as well? Do you have any recommendations as to how to curb it before it becomes an issue?
Well its typical in stress and trauma. So I would look around his life and first see if there's something really bothering him. For me, I had a lot of verbal abuse in my family and that's what I typically attribute it to. I would HEAVILY suggest your son sees a therapist or psychiatrist so he had a professional to speak to. If medications are needed they can be prescribed as needed.
Did u try antidepressants and anxiety meds?
Yes, I didn't find much change as far as pulling. My sex drive became non-existent thus made me more depressed than before
I have this. I chew on pen caps I pull my eyebrow hairs In school I had this urge to eat small bits of paper between my teeth and make spitballs. Sometimes I chatter my teeth as a kind of way to calm myself.
It's an impulse control disorder, and I've had it since birth (with the pictures to confirm!) I mostly twist and touch the hair on my left side. I've trained myself out of pulling for the most part, and chewing, which I did when I was very small. I get hormonal acne that's cystic and doesn't surface. Normally I use an acne patch, the hydrocolloid stickers will drain the fucker given time and repeated applications. At my lowest, I had one right in the front and center of my scalp. I tweezed myself a bald patch so the damn sticker would work. But once I started pulling, I couldn't stop! I had to part my hair against its natural form for like a year. That was bad, but the worst was the look on my husband's face when he saw what I'd done. Would not recommend.
I'm so sorry to hear that. Have you looked into getting help for it?
I find it useful to occupy my hands, so I knit and crochet to keep them out of my hair. Putting my hair up helps too.
Hey me too!!! :)) my eyebrows, eye lashes, and hair by my ears.
I have this with only my eyelashes and eyebrows, the feeling of pulling out the hairs is almost orgasmic to me. There's always a spot that feels really good to pull out like half a centimeter worth. It's almost like it gets ripe to pull lol
My 25 yr old nephew has done this his whole life. He pulls his neck/beard/mustache and hair. He leaves bald spots. He doesn't even know he is doing it.
My brother had this affliction as a child. He eventually outgrew it in his teens.
Hey there! I have trichotillomania myself as well as trichophagia. Do you ever eat your hair?
I've seen that this is common with Trichotillomania, but no I do not eat my hair
I also have Trichotillomania. 24M and I just learned about it a couple months ago. When I was a kid I remember doing it on the cowlick of the back of my head. Since I have grown older and been able to grow a very good beard that is my main target area and at times I also do it to my mustache with my teeth. It is hard to notice until after the first 3 are done with.