What would you do to prevent people from staring at you because of a disability or disfigurement? Would you put yourself in situations where people could ask you why you are the way you are? How comfortable would you feel being put on the spot?

Dealing with questions about skin picking!

People with trichotillomania deal with these questions all the time. Will people stare? Will they ask questions? What will I say if they do? Trichotillomania is a mental health disorder where people compulsively pull out their hair. The most frequent locations are the scalp, eyebrows, and eyelashes, so someone may not have any eyelashes or eyebrows. They may have strange bald spots on the scalp, areas where hair won’t grow anymore, or areas where hair grows back, and it looks different from the rest.

Researchers try to understand factors that contribute to body-focused repetitive behaviors like pulling hair to develop more effective treatment strategies. Because many people pull due to urges or compulsions that increase with anxiety and stress, one question was whether family functioning styles impact hair pulling behaviors for teens.

Seeking treatment for Trichotillomania

The decision to get treatment for trichotillomania is a difficult one. One of the biggest barriers is embarrassment and shame followed closely by not recognizing that symptoms are treatable and not knowing where to go for treatment. Therefore, less than 50% of those with a hair pulling disorder get treatment and sometimes it takes up to 9 years after hair pulling starts to get treatment. Rates of co-occurring depression tend to increase as treatment is delayed (2).