Trichotillomania is a psychological disease that occurs due to stress in unbalanced individuals and is characterized by pulling out body hair, sometimes followed by eating it. The disease affects males half as often as females. Trichotillomania is very common in children.
Trichotillomania as a term first appeared in 1880. This condition is classified as obsessional neurosis, since pulling out hair on the head or other parts of the body initially occurs deliberately, and then unconsciously. The irresistible desire to pull out your own hair subsequently leads to partial or complete baldness, as well as damage to the scalp. Areas of hair thinning and baldness are observed on the eyelashes, eyebrows, scalp, and pubis, often located symmetrically. These areas of baldness are both single and multiple, while the skin in these areas is normal, hair follicles are clearly distinguishable.
Trichotillomania comes in two types: the childhood form and the severe form, which is typical for mature women. Hair pulling can even occur during sleep. The childhood form of trichotillomania occurs between two and six years of age. Severe form of trichotillomania, recall, affects mainly adult women, but can begin to develop at any age, for example, in adolescents.
Causes
Basically, trichotillomania develops against the background of a stressful situation. Patients may simultaneously develop the habit of biting their nails. Parents often yell at their child for such habits, not realizing that such behavior is caused by illness and not by bad upbringing.
At the moment, no exact reasons for the development of trichotillomania have been found. Here are the factors that can trigger the occurrence of trichotillomania: deficiency of iron and copper in the body; schizophrenia; stress and neuroses; depression, trauma to the skull; obsessive-compulsive disorder, imbalance and mental instability; injuries in the brain area; mental trauma in children, diseases of the endocrine glands, chronic tonsillitis, contusions, inflammatory processes, allergies from taking medications.
Trichotillomania is not characterized by gradualness. Its onset is always sudden. At the very beginning, a small area of hair falls out, which increases over time. In all patients with trichotillomania, the size of the lesions varies significantly.
Personal experienceTrichotillomania: I pulled out my eyelashes for ten years
In a roundabout way, I came across a forum dedicated to trichotillomania. There were many girls there with their stories, requests and advice. There were people with almost no eyebrows, people with bald spots of various sizes, users with trichophagia (obsessive hair eating, which can lead to severe intestinal complications. - Ed.); finally, the same as me - without eyelashes. I couldn’t believe it: I’m not the only one!
It is easier and more productive to deal with a problem not alone. Everyone has their own approach and their own tricks: from keeping online diaries to putting plasters on your fingers (so it’s almost impossible to grab a hair or eyelash). I started corresponding on a social network with a fourteen-year-old girl from a small town - her family practically did not react at all to the difficult confession. I gradually communicated on the forum, wrote words of support and gave some simple advice - and at the same time I began to take control of the situation. I bought expensive mascara, the first in my life, tried to draw more, drove away vain and heavy thoughts.
For many years, since childhood, I abhorred myself and engaged in self-destruction. Learning to appreciate and love yourself, not to depend on the opinions of others, not to try to compare yourself and your achievements with others - this, in my opinion, is the most important thing. With titanic work I managed to get my eyelashes back - I don’t know how long it took. I believe that a psychotherapist can help overcome trichotillomania - but the problem is that many people live in small towns or villages where psychotherapy is poor. Many people are afraid of remaining misunderstood and appearing “crazy.”
I want people experiencing trichotillomania to understand that they are not alone - unfortunately, many are still unaware of the existence of this disorder. I'm not a fan of diagnosing or treating illnesses online, but this is probably a case where it's worth asking a search engine to find people with the same problem. If parents notice that their child is pulling out hair, they need to find a specialist as soon as possible, preferably one who has already dealt with cases of TTM. You also need to have a friendly conversation with the child before the visit and express support. Slap your hands or ask, “Are you tearing again?” - definitely not the best help.
If you notice signs of trichotillomania, you can seek help from a psychiatrist or psychotherapist. Information about this disorder can be found on the Euphoria Community, Peace of Mind forums, and in the book The Hair Pulling Problem: A Complete Guide to Trichotillomania.
Free 24-hour emergency psychological help line 051 (Moscow), free helpline 8-800-333-44-34 (Russia).
Photos: goldnetz - stock.adobe.com (1,
Symptoms of trichotillomania
The disease is characterized by baldness on the head, and foci of baldness can also form on the pubis, eyebrows, and eyelashes. Moreover, the skin in these areas is healthy, peeling and itching are not observed. Often, patients twirl the hair around their finger and then begin to pull it until it breaks out. Pulling hair in this way relieves tension as well as anxiety in patients with trichotillomania. Sometimes such a habit appears during a period of calm and inactivity. This kind of hair pulling leads to severe hair thinning, but complete baldness is often not observed.
Most often, patients pull out hair mechanically, without concentrating on their actions, and therefore do not notice all their actions. Under the pressure of stress, the desire to pull out hair only intensifies. Patients pull them out using their nails, tweezers, and tweezers. Trichotillomania should be differentiated from alopecia areata, in which complete baldness occurs.
Quite often, after pulling out hair, a person receives satisfaction or relief. Typically, a patient with trichotillomania pulls out hair alone, but may be in a state of calm or under the influence of a reaction to stress. No more than ten percent of trichotillomania patients who pull out their own hair eat it. As a result, hairballs remain in the stomach and clog it. Patients try to hide the loss of hair so that others do not notice it. Patients wear hats and scarves. Women get eyebrow tattoos and false eyelashes.
Trichotillomania – what is it?
Trichotillomania is a mental illness that is essentially an obsessive-compulsive disorder. This disorder occurs in children aged 2 to 6 years and in women. The course of the disease in mature patients is quite severe and difficult to treat. Most often, patients tend to twirl their hair around their fingers and pull it out from their eyelashes, eyebrows, and scalp. In more rare cases, patients pull out hair using tweezers and pins in the area of the arms, legs, pubic area, and armpits. Hair pulling helps patients take their minds off anxious thoughts and provides them with a unique feeling of relaxation and satisfaction.
The connection between the development of trichotillomania and hereditary predisposition is evidenced by the fact that the disease most often affects individuals whose close relatives were diagnosed with this pathology. Often such patients have a concomitant habit of biting and biting their own nails.
Diagnostics
When diagnosing trichotillomania, it is necessary to exclude diseases such as fungal infections and syphilis, in which complete baldness is observed. Diagnosis of trichotillomania is based on examination of the patient and interviews with the patient and his family members. The doctor should collect the following information:
— what worries the patient;
- what diseases have you been ill with recently?
— whether there are hereditary diseases in the patient’s family members;
- what medications have you used recently?
- what is the daily routine, nutrition, physical activity.
After the interview, the doctor examines the patient:
— the doctor assesses the fatness of the head;
- examines hair for fragility, lack of shine, split ends;
— examines the scalp for dermatological problems (inflammation, flaking, etc.);
— determines the presence, location, degree of hair thinning;
— determines the type of hair loss (scarring, non-scarring).
Trichotillomania: consequences
Trichotillomania is a disease that, in the absence of proper therapy, inevitably leads the patient to social isolation. This is a pathology that can interfere with normal life: walking on the street, visiting medical institutions, other public places, working in a team. Trichotillomania is inevitably accompanied by a deterioration in mental state, apathy, anorexia, and depression. Pulling out eyelashes can lead to injuries to the eyelids and mucous membranes of the eyes, resulting in the development of conjunctivitis and blepharitis. If a patient has a tendency to eat hair, the risk of dental and intestinal diseases increases - the hair most often cannot come out on its own, which requires surgical interventions.
Treatment of trichotillomania
Unfortunately, there are no special drugs to treat this disease.
How to get rid of trichotillomania? This question interests many people. To combat this disease, you can use the following methods: shaving your head, but the cause is not eliminated, since this method does not produce a lasting effect; wearing a special zinc-gelatin cap while sleeping; taking sedatives and antidepressants; consumption of vitamins (especially vitamin A in large quantities); use of hormonal ointments; taking medications that restore metabolism in the body; X-ray of the spinal cord roots; paraffin therapy; conducting a course of psychotherapy; cryotherapy (cold treatment); hypnosis.
One of the most effective physiotherapeutic procedures is X-ray irradiation of the skin at the locations of the spinal cord roots. This method is indirect, affecting the nervous system.
Treatment of focal baldness includes a variety of ointments of hormonal origin, but before using them, consultation with an endocrinologist is necessary. A neurologist and a dermatologist also treat trichotillomania.
Treatment of trichotillomania in children with medications has little effect. This is due to the fact that the cause of the disease in a child may be a reaction to difficult relationships in the family. Therefore, the traumatic factor should be eliminated first. To do this, you need to change your education methods. Under no circumstances should physical punishment be used. The main method of treatment is a course of psychotherapy.
Trichotillomania and its treatment at home includes the use of folk remedies. For example, garlic oil is widely used. It is available freely at pharmacies. But you can cook it yourself. To do this, you need to take a head of garlic and chop until it turns into pulp, then pour in a glass of unrefined sunflower oil. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and pour half into the resulting mixture. Take the folk remedy three times a day (for three months), one teaspoon. For adults, you can add 50 ml of cognac to the medicine.
You can also try this medicine to restore your emotional state. The lemon should be finely chopped with the peel, then mixed with honey and crushed 12 apricot kernels. Drink one teaspoon twice a day.
Complications
- The habit of pulling out hair prevents a child from developing in society. He withdraws into himself and develops a tendency toward prolonged depression.
- Trichotillomania can lead to complete baldness. With constant pulling out, hair has difficulty resuming its growth.
- Due to constant damage to the skin, infection can occur. Infections of the skin and eyes develop.
- Eating hair can lead to the formation of a “hair stone” in the stomach, which can only be removed surgically.
Trichotillomania: learning to love yourself
Most people with this disorder suffer from low self-esteem. They do not know how to fight back against offenders, constantly doubt themselves and their strengths, and try not to bother others with their own problems and experiences. Trichotillomania for them is a way out of a situation when they need to get rid of negative emotions and grievances. They inflict physical pain on themselves, which drowns out mental pain, and at the same time punish themselves for weakness and cowardice.
Why do women experience trichotillomania more often than men? Society constantly puts pressure on them, makes many demands and forbids them to be themselves. To overcome the problem, you need to get rid of complexes. Don’t try to please everyone, allow yourself to be stupid and funny sometimes, and make mistakes. Become a little selfish, learn to think positively. The next time something like this appears in your head: “I told an unfunny joke at a party. They will always remember my shame,” it should be replaced with: “Now I know that my friends don’t like jokes about such topics. This incident made me more experienced and wiser. Next time I'll come up with something more original and funny."
People with trichotillomania should become more assertive and confident, learn to say “no”, express their own opinions and cut off ties with unpleasant people, communication with whom spoils the mood. It is enough to try once to refuse an obsessive friend, put a street lout in his place, or rebuff an authoritarian mother to believe in yourself. With small and big victories over yourself, you can successfully treat this and some other mental disorders.
Recommended Diet
Products must be chosen that contain a lot of vitamins A and C. These are beef liver, eggs, milk, carrots, pumpkin, spinach, peach, apricot, tomato, sweet pepper, yellow-red berries.
Magnesium is also necessary to compensate for micronutrient deficiencies. You can get it from foods such as avocados, rice bran, cereals, beans, and any green leafy vegetables.
Medicines are indicated only in advanced forms of mental disorder. Physical punishment is contraindicated. The main emphasis is on collective, game, and individual psychotherapy. In the process of child maturation, the main role is played by the home atmosphere, attention and care that adults can provide.
Prevention
Cognitive psychology does not provide special measures for the prevention of trichotillomania. The main thing is to constantly pay attention to the psychological state of the child. Respond in a timely and appropriate manner to a depressed state, depression. Surround your child with care and instill confidence in your comprehensive assistance.
Particular attention must be paid to the psychological state of the teenager, to understand the problems of adolescence.
There is an opinion that psychological illnesses in children develop when the child has nothing to do for a long time, in moments of acute loneliness. First of all, help him find his favorite activity. Don't overestimate your child's capabilities. Excessive demands can give impetus to the development of the disease. Encourage a passion for sports, come up with joint games, and take walks in the fresh air more often.
Types of disease
According to one version, trichotillomania is not genetically transmitted and is not congenital. This is an acquired illness.
There are three types of trichotillomania in children and adults:
- Transitional - pathological tendency is characterized by stress and strong feelings, based on recently suffered shocks.
- Chronic - observed in those suffering from personality disorder. Hair pulling also occurs during sleep.
- Episodic - attacks occur every time a stressful situation occurs.
Trichotillomania happens:
Concentrated - when the patient consciously prepares to pull out hairs, armed with tweezers.
Automatic - when the patient is not aware of his actions. The consequences may be evident later in the form of bald spots on the head and lack of hair in other areas.
Medicines
Selective inhibitors (“Fluoxetine”), which increase the concentration of the endorphin serotonin in the body, improve mood and eliminate discomfort caused by damaged hair.
Tricyclic antidepressants affect norepinephrine and dopamine. The proven drug “Anafril” is effective.
The persistent course of the disorder is the reason for the use of nootropic and psychotropic drugs (Noofen, Adaptol). Homeopathic anti-homotoxic drugs are effective: “Nervohel”, “Hepel”, “Gepar compositum”, “Psorinhel”, “Valerianachel” and others.
It should be noted that treatment with drugs gives weak results, since most often trichotillomania is an acquired illness due to an unhealthy psychological atmosphere in the family.
