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
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