tricholtillomania awareness

A little while ago I was surfing the web looking for a way to reduce my hair pulling since my GCSEs I have had a tendency of twisting out strands of my hair when focusing on work or sometimes when relaxing as a comfort. while looking it up I stumbled in a youtube vlogger with the condition Trichotillomania. I was oblivious to what the condition was when I was watching these first through videos. Seeing the severity of the damage the condition caused shocked me, I myself had only ever experienced one bald patch the size of a 5p coin and the top of my neck but this youtube had seemed to be suffering extensively with uncontrollable hair loss. It disheartens me to think that people may suffer like this in silence without representation or support. and although I know I am just a little blogger with a minimal amount of page views, I feel if I had a way of raising even a little awareness I should try.

so I went out and asked 3 individuals question about the condition to prove how it is not wildly known and hopefully to educate people on the matter to the best of my ability.

1.Do you know what trichotillomania is?

A: yes but not in great detail
B: No though I think I have heard you mention it before
C: Isn't it where people pull their hair out it is a mental condition right?

Answer c is correct the formal definition is the compulsion to pull out one's hair from one's head or body including areas such as your eyebrows, eyelashes, and pubic hair.  this can create bald patches and leave lasting damage to hair roots preventing further growth.

2.which one of these do you think is the figure for how many people it affects?

1% of the population         9%  of the population              4% of the population

A: I'd guess 4 maybe
B: 1%?
C: I am going to say 4% but I have a feeling it might be 9.

According to my research in actuality, it is 4 percent of the population, on the whole, that's around 2,960,000 people that suffer from some degree of the illness, which is why to me personally it is such a shame it is so under publicized.

 3. what do trichers normal do after doing harm to their hair?

play with fallen out hair            pick at skin              eat/ put the hair in their mouth

A: varies from person to person
B: All of those options?
C: well I think it's more likely they may cover it through being ashamed. probably play with it but I think it depends on the person that could do all of those things. 

Many people do play with their hair and other can put their hair in or brush it across their mouth but normally the picking of the skin is related to detrotelliamania another common BFRB. from what I can understand BFRBs are usually developed as a stress release and this action can be soothing for the users, I may be wrong about this but this is just what I have heard. some people also say the picking of skin or pulling of hair is down to a psychological irritation a sort of itchy feeling on the skin or scalp. 

4. how many UK charity organizations are there for solely trich?

1                      7                         3 

A: Since it's not as well-known I guess 3
B: I reckon 3
C:3 but I think there should be more than 7 anyway

after searching extensively I was only able to locate one UK trich organization where you can purchase the therapeutic tool and find information. (This organization stock and leaflets are the ones displayed in the photo above).
5. which one of these illness does trich come with often

OCD                         Depression                    Anxiety                  all three

A: I think OCD as it is a compulsion but I imagine anxiety and depression could impact on it as it could be something people identify as a release
B: I think it would involve all those. 
C: All three as like you said it is a compulsive condition so commonly OCD is thought of as a related thing but people can feel ashamed and also panic because they have no control so possibly anxiety. 

All condition are usually related and some people clump them together as the depression and anxiety some suffers face can affect the severity of their pulling. OCD is related as it is a compulsion to pull so it is usually interwoven with the condition. 

Now you have the lowdown on trich I am going to leave you with some links to social media accounts or website that may be useful to you if you want more information or support:

NHS information

Trichotillomania support online

BFRB information

Trich youtube account 

Booktube thoughts

Hi guys, as you know I am a menial, meaning that I have grown up and matured (which kind of makes me sound like a bottle of wine but whatever) in a very media-centric society. Now I don't believe this to be a bad thing entirely, the web and the media have their pros and cons but that is another post in it own. I wanted to partially focus in on the book tube community.

The book tube community is a wonderful community of youtube creators yours who's channels are used as a platform for reviewing, discussing or just generally creating book related content. Now do not get me wrong I love book tube. I enjoy the small and friendly audience/ community it brings in and I am a genuinely invested in a lot of book tube accounts.this aside I am going to start this post off with any negative thought and then move on to positive to finish

despite all of its amazing points book tube does tend to focus in on new releases and new additions. I know you could argue that this is just due to book tubers preferences but I have to say when weighing it up as a whole there are a lot of new book promos, buying of the second edition covers changes and upcoming book releases on these channels which I totally understand. they may enjoy the series, they may be invested in reading the new books before the intent is swarmed with spoilers and in the cause of, promos they have bills to pay.

The real issue is that people like me or possibly younger individuals are then drawn in to buying these new realizes and additions. we want to read what are favoirt youtubers afre reading to. and alought this does altimealy inspire children to read and allows them to have talking points with others in the booktube comminity it can cause issues. new releases tend to be more expensive meaning it cost more to keep up, slower readers like yours truly can't always finish these book before the next big thing comes out, it also means you can miss out on older book or book genres you may enjoy because your mind is narrowed.

 You must understand this is all my personal thoughts on this topic and you must please remember that overall I feel that book tube is in no way negative use of our online voice, however, I would encourage others to do as I have done and start looking for more obsure or older books in order to broaden their reading and to give them selfs new experiences, alongside this recommendation, if they so wish.

On a counterpoint to this con, I would suggest that although I comment on this I myself am guilty of it as I do tend to review read and feature in my tags predominantly revlivent and new books. I in the futher will be making an effort to look into less mainstream books and to purchase books from secound hand or independent bookstores.

On a possitive note I believe booktube to be an essential asset to the print media industry. The print media industry has been rumored to be decreasing in value over the last couple of decade due to social media. However, the use of youtube to do this is an interview way to get more young people engaged with reading, which will help salvage the industry for us all. this is especially important in terms of education as well. In order for peoples literacy to develop they need to read more. with a lot of fast and easy entertainment methods, these days such as streams, tv shows, and podcasts not many people see reading as a time worth option. which is preventing people from developing their skills further.

Booktubers popularity can also lead to book deals as with many YouTubers. this means that people with a real interest and passion for book or poetry are able to reserve opportunities that they would not originally have access to.In addition to this because they understand their audince from intracting with them at con or in the comment they are able to better target their work to their buyer providing a better reading experience.

Overall I think booktube to be positive.What do you think about book tube, do you think it most good or bad or are you neutral to the concept? do you watch any booktubers? let me known what you think in the comments bellow and I will see you soon!