Trichotillomania – Habitual Hair Pulling Disorder
Trichotillomania often affects children as well as adults and can be the next step on from “playing with their hair” as “twiddling” there can be a psychological disorder. Some describe this in kids akin to wetting the bed or nail biting but for adults is often attributed to the emotion of feeling “in control” of an aspect of one’s life when other situations are out of the individual’s control.
Trichotillomania can be seen in various areas of the scalp and the most common characteristic is various degrees of broken hairs where they have been pulled. In many cases, the patient often denies pulling their hair out. The sufferer often describes the hair as “simply not growing” or “breaking off” when actually the hair is being manually pulled out. There can be other psychological factors involved here also.
Shuna Hammocks Trichology could work with you and your doctor to address the anxiety surrounding the pulling.