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Impossible Girl , 09 Aug 2016

Telling my parents about trich

Hey
So I've been pulling for years and years but it only really got really bad and noticeable a few years back(I'm 19). It started with pulling my lashes but I had long, thick, dark lashes so it didn't show for a long time. But then I started pulling my eyebrows too. Around the end of sophomore year of high school it started getting noticeable and my mom was like "what's wrong with your brows?" "you need to stop pulling them out." And trust me, I've tried!!! Not only have I been pulling my lashes and brows but also my arm hair and the ends of my long hair(but that's gotten a lot better). It's Sooo hard to live with pretty much no eyebrows and so many missing lashes!!!! And what's worse is that I still live at home and have never really be allowed to wear makeup(except for a few occasions). I've tried other ways of covering it up like wearing hats and wearing my hair partly over my face and trying to cover them with other stuff but it's made me so insecure and have such low self esteem! It's hard to look people in the eyes and get close to people. And hard to even be around my family and hard to take pictures. And it's just making life so hard. Like it makes me depressed and it can be hard to focus on school but then when I get behind in school THAT makes me even more depressed and stressed and that makes me pull more!!! I've never told anyone that I have this and have been trying to deal with it myself but it's not working!!! I came so close to telling my mom yesterday cause they could tell that something was bothering me but I just couldn't!!! What would they think?! I don't even think my parents know trich exists! And I'm also pretty positive I have OCD. Any suggestions on how to bring it up to them? Or anyone successful ways you've found to stop pulling?!

3 Answers
A Dying Storm
March 09, 2017
Distraction was the only thing that helped me, I'm trying desperately to distract myself again by going to the gym. Perhaps something similar could help you.

Telling your parents is one thing, having them understand is another. However, if you live years without telling them it will eat you up inside that you are not normal and don't know how to express it to the ones who are supposed to be closest to you.

You can't expect anyone to understand unless they have gone through the same thing but maybe if you told them and explained and showed them websites and videos they might start to understand you a little more. Wish you luck.
JDowling
April 29, 2017
Distract yourself and indulge in your favorite habits. You have to explain your condition to them in a proper manner. Show them some information about it and tell there's nothing to worry about.
KeepCalm_CarryOn
August 07, 2017
I have no advice to you about stopping, in my opinion keeping yourself busy and distracting yourself only works for the time being and is only delaying the inevitable. Instead I've just learned to cope better. It would be a lot easier to tell your parents about trich so they can learn to understand why you would need makeup to cover up noticeable missing hair. If they still insist on no makeup I've recently found a website called headcovers.com that have eyebrow wigs! I didn't even know these were a thing until today! After reading several recommendations and watching several videos I ordered some; I'm so excited to actually look halfway normal ( I still have a hair problem) and not worry/stress about my eyebrows looking like they are painted on! They are made up of real hair and although they are pricey($50.00) they are worth the money and If you take care of them I heard they last awhile!

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