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mordicuz , 24 Sep 2020

Confused

Hello everyone!

I am new to this forum and to the knowledge of trichotillomania. I think I am on the spectrum of it (or at list something similar) but I am not sure. I constantly rip the ends of my hair, I seperate my split ends in two but I don't necessarily rip the hair. I don't have patches of hair missing but my hair is significantly shorter in some areas. I have been doing this for years and have felt incredibly misunderstood by my close circle. When it started, they couldn't understand that I wasn't doing it on purpose, that it was something that I just couldn't control and joked or complained about it a lot. I tried talking to therapists about it as well but they never really took me seriously. So finally finding a disorder that resembles what I have and the possibility of talking to people who understand is very exciting. So this is my question : is it trichotillomania if I only rip out the ends of my hair ?

3 Answers
Rainbow14
September 25, 2020
Hello,

I feel similar to this. I pull my hair but not from the roots - further down the hair strand. I can’t help doing it and do it more when I am feeling anxious. The top layer of my hair is awful from pulling and really short now. Luckily, my hairdresser is one of my close friends from school otherwise I think I would be too anxious and embarrassed about going to have my hair cut even :(
I’d love to be able to stop pulling. I’ve done it for about 15 years now and not been able to stop so far.
Rainbow14
September 25, 2020
I meant to say - I’d also like to know if this still counts as trichotillomania!
Serenity
January 24, 2021
I am new to this site and the forum. I have struggled with trich for most of my life so I can understand the anxiety behind this and not really being taken seriously. As for whether it can be considered trichotillomania if you are not actually pulling your hair out, I don't know the answer to that question. But is can be considered part of the greater class to which trich is a part of. They are BFRB's, which stands for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors. I hope, considering how old these posts are, that you both have found more information out on your own. But if not, I suggest going to https://www.bfrb.org/ to learn more.

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