When it comes to mental health disorders, one thing is true: while there are specific diagnostic criteria used to make a diagnosis, how those behaviors and traits are manifested can vary quite a bit. Rarely is a diagnosis a “one-size-fits-all.” Trichotillomania, or hair pulling, is no exception. Hair pulling behavior does not look the same from person to person. There are individual differences and variations in pulling behaviors. In fact, research has looked at how people engage in hair pulling and, it turns out that there is not a single type of hair pulling, but rather distinct subtypes of hair-pulling:

Subtype 1: Sensory-sensitive Pullers

This subtype is characterized by highly focused pulling behavior. The pulling tends to be very intentional. Urges to pull tend to be infrequent, and not particularly intense. The frequency of pulling tends to be lower than in other subtypes.

While hair pulling is more than just something one might consider a “bad habit”, it does have qualities that are in line with habits and habit formation. It’s not a coincidence that Habit Reversal Training (HRT) is the standard treatment for hair pulling. But have you ever wondered just how habits and hair pulling are connected? What are habits and how do they even start? In this new TrichStop webinar, Dr. Vladimir Miletic takes a closer look at the psychology of habit formation and how introducing competing responses can help reduce hair pulling.

When you think of Trichotillomania (TTM), you usually think of hair pulling, right? Most people do. Have you ever wondered what happens to the hair that’s pulled out? For many people with TTM, they simply discard the hair. It might surprise you though that some people who compulsively pull their hair don’t merely pull it out and discard it. There is a significant percentage of people with TTM that go further. Some people ingest the hair that they pull. This persistent, compulsive ingesting of hair is called trichophagia.

Trichophagia primarily affects females and is most often associated with TTM. However, it can also be associated with other mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, pica (the ingestion of non-food substances), and eating disorders.

Nail biting or even picking at a scab just a bit too much is something most of us have done. We’ve done it and been able to stop. For some people though, the urge to pull or pick continues and can even become too much to resist. Why does that happen?

Habitual nail biting, hair pulling, and skin picking are collectively referred to as body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs). These recurrent, destructive behaviors directed toward the body are thought to be triggered by some unpleasant emotional state. They’re not uncommon and many people engage in these behaviors from time to time (e.g., nail biting) but do so at subclinical levels that create little or no distress. For others, however, their emotions somehow get misdirected, and the result is destructive body-focused behaviors like chronic, repetitive skin-picking and hair-pulling.