On trichotillomania

When Jess and I spoke a few weeks back to review my 12 weeks at Poached, we discussed my writing an article on an issue that is not so well-known in the UK. Trichotillomania is an affliction that affects a small percentage of the population, but has a wider implications for a person's mental health. It is the act of pulling out one's own hair to either relieve stress, or something one idly does whilst watching the TV or reading a book.

I showed signs of tricholtillomania in my late teens. I started to rub my eyebrow hair with my sleeve and found it satisfying when the hairs gathered on my wrist. Soon afterwards, I took to pulling them out with the ends of my fingernails. I would be sitting in front of the TV and before I knew it, I had amassed a little pile of hairs on the end of the remote control. As I began to do it more frequently, the signs were more obvious. There was a picture of me on the mantelpiece of my grandparents' house taken on my 18th birthday and the evidence is there. I'm sure barely anyone else would give it a second look, but I'm always drawn to the outline of my eyebrows whenever I look at it. I hadn't really put the two habits together until recently, but I tend to bite out the hair on the front of my fingers too.

In trichotillomania - or 'trich' - terms, eyebrow pulling is quite common. I suppose in one sense I am lucky because I can use make-up to disguise it. However, many people pull hairs out of their scalp, and those who have done it a lot are often afflicted with bald patches. Some 'pullers' tend to pull out the hair from their armpits or their pubic area. In many cases, pullers are ashamed of their affliction: both punishing themselves for their lack of control over a mindless habit, and feeling embarrassed and self-conscious of their bald patches.

I have done some research into trich and have found that there are many resources available in the US for those who want to overcome this problem. There are some online resources available, such as self-help from an ex-hair puller and forums for people to discuss issues associated with trich. The UK is catching up, albeit slowly. My theory is that people who are afflicted have no idea their problem has a name. I only found out what it was called in the last five years - 10 years or so since I first started pulling my hair. Once people know the name, the internet is there with plenty of information. TV programmes such as Channel 4's Embarrassing Bodies have a brief guide as to what it is. Although the NHS has a section on Obsessive Compulsive Behaviour (trich exists on the spectrum of OCD), there isn't anything specific on trich.

My next step is to construct an article and arrange some telephone interviews with others affected by trich and with a medical specialist. Right now, I think the main focus is getting more awareness for the term trichotillomania as I'm sure there are many people out there who have no idea how to define their problem. As Jess suggested, getting an article like this into a women's or health magazine could give the cause some much needed exposure.