A Little Bit of Daily Life

This post wont be true for every person with trichotillomania, but it is true in my case.

Little things that happen throughout the day can often cause my trich to act up, and most of the time I won't even notice.

"Well, when you realize that you're pulling you're hair you can stop yourself, right?"

It's not that easy, it varies on my surroundings a lot of the time. Two examples of different settings: if I'm at home by myself and begin to pull my, then it's not very easy to just stop pulling my hair out. However, if I'm at a friend's house and I start pulling my hair out, it's a little easier to stop myself since I know that there are other people around.

Any strong burst of negative emotion can make me feel the need to pull my hair out. Stress, anger, sadness, etc. I'll even start pulling out my hair in the middle of a conversation with a friend from time to time.

It can be easy to overwhelm yourself without even realizing that it's happening. Letting everything build up and add pressure to your daily routine can be pretty hazardous. In my case, I begin to pull hair out at a faster rate than usual when I get overwhelmed.

Trichotillomania is difficult to deal with and usually adds even more stress to daily life, which is really a bummer for us "trichsters," because the last thing we need is more stress.

I would like to share a quote that may help some of you to get a better idea of what it's like having trichotillomania:

"It's stronger than I, she says, this idea, this need is after me all the time. The movement happens by itself, there is something in my arms that pulls me along irresistibly. If I resist I have these irritable and stifling feelings which are totally unbearable, I just have to give into this need ..."
-Dan Stein, Trichotillomania (1999)

Things To NOT Say To Someone With Trichotillomania

"I liked your long hair better."

"Why do you have a bald spot?"

"Where are your eyebrows?"

"How come you don't have any eyelashes?"

"Why do you keep fidgeting?"

You may be asking something like:
Why shouldn't I say these things to this person? What harm could it do? It's obvious that their hair is gone, so why can't I ask?

There are simple answers to this.
You should avoid saying/asking these things to someone with trich because it can often trigger someone's trichotillomania. It can also make the person feel very uncomfortable, and they may want to avoid carrying on any conversations with you out of fear that you'll bring it up more than just the once. Having to explain trichotillomania to someone can be a really stressful task, and stress can often cause trich to flare up.
If you're questioning whether or not you should ask the person a question that has to do with their hair, it's probably best to just avoid asking that question.

People with trich are often afraid that the only thing people notice about them is their lack of hair, and it's actually kind of scary trying to talk to someone new when you're worried that they'll bring up anything to do with their hair.

In my opinion, if you notice hair missing on someone where you think they should have hair, it's best to just not ask about it. If they become comfortable enough, the person will tell you about their trichotillomania on their own.

Be respectful! ☺

How To Find A Distraction

In my experience, I have found very few things to help distract me from my trichotillomania. I am still gathering tips and tricks to help with trich, but here are a few I have discovered:

1.  Tangle puzzles 
2. Spinner rings
3. Sewing
4. Painting
5. Cooking
6. Acrylic nails

Even though I have had trichotillomania since middle school, I have not found very many effective tips for myself, however that wouldn't mean that different things wouldn't work for different people. For example, some people seem to be able to use writing as a tool for distraction.

My advice for anyone looking for a way to distract themselves is to experiment with different activities that you can lose yourself in. As I said before, different things work for different people. An activity that works for another person with trich may not work for you, which is completely okay!

Telling Someone You Have Trichotillomania

Telling someone that you have trichotillomania can be a very difficult thing to do. People who have trichotillomania often feel ashamed for what they do to themselves. Telling other people can prove to be a really embarrassing task, especially since most people have never heard of it.
In my experience, the people I have told have never heard of trichotillomania, and often thing that I am making it up for attention.
It can be harder to tell people who have bigger influences in your life. As someone with trichotillomania you're afraid to be ridiculed for having trich; you're afraid to be seen as "crazy".

No matter who you tell, a relative or a stranger, it's hard to explain having trichotillomania to someone who has never had experience with the condition.

A Little More About Trich

With this post, I wanted to go into a little more detail about trichotillomania (trich). Trichotillomania is an impulse control disorder, causing someone to pull out their own hair. The most common ages for the appearance of trichotillomania are 9 to 13 years old, and it is often caused by depression or high stress levels. Cases of trichotillomania are rarely reported because of how little attention has been brought to the disorder and because of the negative social reactions to trichotillomania. The areas that are most common for people to pull their hair from are the eyebrows, eyelashes, scalp, legs, arms, and pubic areas.
People with trichotillomania tend to pull one hair at a time, and continue to do so for hours on end, leading to major hair loss. These people may not even realize that they are pulling their hair when it is happening. Trichotillomania has been linked with drops in people's self esteem as well.

Some medical implications that can be caused by trich are:

• infection
• permanent hair loss
• repetitive stress injury
• carpal tunnel

It can be quite difficult for any doctor to diagnose someone with trichotillomania, especially is someone goes to extreme lengths to hide it.
Treatments can vary depending on someone's age. Younger children have been shown to outgrow the compulsion when managed properly. However, for higher ages, people are referred to behavior modification programs, or are referred to a psychologist, or psychiatrist.

Introduction

My name is Andrea, I'm currently a freshman at Ivy Tech and I've had trichotillomania since I was in sixth grade. Trichotillomania is the compulsive urge to pull out your hair. Over the next ten weeks it is my goal to educate others about trichotillomania, as well as learn some new information myself. I'm hoping to be able to make informative posts as well as find tips for people who have trich.

I'm really looking forward to what this project will bring!