You may have heard of various forms of anxiety and its manifestation in ways such as constant tapping of fingers on the table, lip and nail biting, leg bouncing and so on. One lesser-known form of anxiety is trichotillomania. What is it?
Trichotillomania
It is a hair-pulling disorder in which individuals fail to resist the impulse to pull out hair. The hair can be from your scalp, eyebrow, eyelash or other areas of your body. Trichotillomania is also known as an impulse control disorder. This can be because the individual knows and wants to stop but has a problem in resisting the urge. Anxiety comes in when the individual is stressed/ tensed and hair pulling is a way to soothe their stress or tension. Just as any form of anxiety, hair-pulling could be done consciously or unconsciously.
Symptoms
As the description of trichotillomania says, one of the symptoms would be repeatedly pulling out hair from any part of the body. Other symptoms would be feeling a sense of pleasure after pulling out the hair, bald patches on parts of the body, it can also include biting, chewing, picking at lips, skin or nails; eating your hair as well. There are often triggers that lead to hair-pulling. That is significant stress at workplace/school, anxiety, anger, boredom or stress. Sometimes a trigger as insignificant as an itch can lead to hair-pulling.
Causes
Trying to deal with uncomfortable emotions for an individual such as anxiety, stress, anger can be one of the causes of trichotillomania. Although said to affect individuals of any age, its onset is identified to be during adolescence. More specifically between 10-13 ages. Once it starts, it can continue throughout the life on an individual with symptoms coming and going. Other causes include genes where this condition is passed on or inherited. Other mental health disorders also increase risk of trichotillomania such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism.
Treatment
Professional help has been preferred as treatment for trichotillomania. Many types of therapy are used in trichotillomania such as acceptance and commitment therapy, habit reversal, cognitive therapy. Medications such as antidepressants are used in cases where the cause is diagnosed as depression. These forms of therapy help in the way of redirecting the behavior to some other productive behavior. It helps the person stay in control with emotions and make them more aware about the situation which leads them to hair-pulling. Stress management techniques also help in managing this disorder. Most common techniques would be stress ball and practicing the hobbies which the individual is most inclined to.
Social Support
Any individual in general should have positive social support. This becomes all the more important in mental health disorders. If one notices a loved one experiences symptoms of trichotillomania, it is important to lend a helping hand. This can be done by actively listening to the person’s problems and not being dismissive of their feelings. Certain statements such as “Why don’t you just stop the habit/ pulling your hair?” and “That’s embarrassing” should be avoided, instead ask them how can you help. Another part of social support is support groups. Support groups help the individual feel seen, validated and not alone. Emotional distress significantly reduces from having positive social support. No prevention has been found of yet, so the bottom line is to get the symptoms and disorder treated. If you notice someone around you, do whatever you can.
References
Sweeney, R. M. N. (2020, February 28). Understanding Trichotillomania: The Urge to Pull Out Your Hair. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/trichotillomania#bottom-line
Trichotillomania. (2006, February 2). WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/trichotillomania
Trichotillomania (for Teens) - Nemours Kidshealth. (n.d.). TeensHealth. Retrieved September 21, 2021, from https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/trichotillomania.html
Trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder) - Symptoms and causes. (2016, November 17). Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/trichotillomania/symptoms-causes/syc-20355188
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