The truth about Trichotillomania
Trick-oh-till-oh-may-nee-ah. Sometimes known as TTM or even trich.
But what exactly is trichotillomania?
Trich is an uncontrollable urge to pull out your own hair, and something which wasn’t recognised as a disorder until 1987. The repetitive behaviour of pulling out your hair happens because you may want to remove an overwhelming feeling of tension/stress, or it may just be an automatic/unaware habit. Some sufferers of trich report being in a trance-like state when they are in the action of pulling out their hair. Others say their hair pulling occurs when they are in a stressful situation. Post hair pulling, people with trich have a massive sense of relief.
Here in the UK, it is estimated around 1.1 million people are currently suffering from trich. Most sufferers focus their hair pulling attention on their scalp hair; however, others may focus their attention on their eyelashes, eyebrows, beard/moustache, armpits or genital areas. It’s a habit which is extremely difficult to stop, and once the sufferers begin, they don’t want to stop. Using their own fingers to remove the hair is the approach for most trich cases, though tweezers and other instruments are sometimes used.
There isn’t a clear cause for trich. What experts do know is that this hair pulling behaviour tends to begin in adolescence, typically around 10 – 13 years old. By adulthood, trich cases are 80-90% women. Some suggestions as to why trich begins are listed below…
- Puberty hormone changes
- A manner of dealing with stress
- An imbalance of chemicals in the brain
- A genetic condition
As this form of hair loss is caused by the physical action of pulling out your own hair, bald patches on trich sufferers’ may impact one side of their head more than the other. The areas of no hair can be unusual shapes too, rather than other forms of hair loss. Some camouflage tactics that trich sufferers may utilise are wearing hats, scarves, disguising hairstyles, coverup makeup and using false eyelashes.
Although trichotillomania is not the same as OCD, it is in fact listed under the ‘Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Related Disorders’, similar to skin picking (dermatillomania). Once upon a time it was thought to be an impulse control disorder; experts now believe trich may be better sat under the title of ‘body-focused repetitive behaviours’ (BFRBs). Even in the modern world we live in, BFRBs are an area which are poorly understood and massively under-researched. This could well be due to the fact many people with BFRBs suffer in silence and the behaviours are frequently hidden. Those sufferers who have the confidence to go seek help are often met with a GP or other healthcare professional who hasn’t even heard of the disorder, therefore unsure how to help.
50% of people with trich never seek treatment. And less than half of those who go for treatment feel like the professional had any knowledge of their disorder. Medication is no longer considered an effective treatment for trich, although it may be needed for co-morbid (another medical condition that exists) depression/ anxiety. Habit Reversal Training (a type of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is the go-to treatment for trich. The focus of this is helping the person replace their hair pulling with a habit that’s not as harmful. This is usually broken down into the following steps…
- Learning what triggers your hair pulling and how to avoid those triggers
- Learning to tolerate the resulting discomfort of not pulling your hair out
- Replacing the action of hair pulling with something else e.g. squeezing a stress ball
- Keeping a diary of your hair pulling
- Telling your loved ones to provide you with encouragement and emotional support
- Telling your loved ones to tell you when you are pulling your hair, helping you recognise the behaviour
There are some simple techniques you can try yourself though, which can help:
- Keep your hair short
- Wear a bandana or tight-fitting hat e.g. beanie
- Practice deep breathing until the hair pulling urge passes
- Using a fidget toy/ Squeeze a stress toy
- Form a ball with your fist and tighten the muscles in that arm
- Take a soothing bath to ease stress
- Exercise
- Join a trich support group
- Put plasters on your fingertips or wear gloves
- Don’t keep tweezers or implements you use for hair pulling in an easy to access location
If you are suffering from trich, remember it is important to share what is going on. It will help with feelings of embarrassment and anxiety that are associated with disorder. We understand that the compulsive behaviour of pulling out your own hair does cause a huge amount of toxic shame. ‘Just stop’ is a comment many trich sufferers are faced with, something which only stirs up more feelings of shame. Please remember, you are not alone.
Whilst you are recovering, GLOWWA can be a real helping hand in a hair regrowth journey. GLOWWA’s Hair Food provides you with that additional nutritional support needed for healthy hair growth, reduced shedding, and wellbeing benefits. In as little as 12 weeks results can be noticed and can help you start your healthy hair growth journey.