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A.0607 , 14 Sep 2017

Setting a Goal

Hey everyone! I'm not sure where to start. I've had trichotillamania for almost 9 years and I'm 27. I've tried medication, meditation, and just about every trick in the book to keep my hands out of my hair. I do great for a period of time but then find myself back to square one once my anxiety kicks in. My episodes that I have can last for hours and afterwards I'm drowning in tears and sorrow. As a woman my ego is brought down also. So far I've been trich free for 2 weeks but had another attack today. I want to end this cycle once and for all. Mu fiancé is great with supporting me but I really would love to go through this journey with others who know exactly how difficult it is to shake this habit. I'm looking for a friend who would like to set small goals with me and share our progress.

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cavey
September 14, 2017
Good luck! My trich issues are also anxiety/stress related and relapsed this summer creating two self inflicted bald spots on my head, and I had to join a forum of people to try to think my way thru this and progressively undo habitual pulling. I am on day 4 of not pulling but am constantly feeling around for the fledgling hairs.

All the best!
A.0607
September 15, 2017
Hi! Thanks for the response and I wish you the best of luck as well. I had a relapse this summer as well since I was overwhelmed with applying to nursing school while taking a full load of classes. It's always the smallest anxieties that offset my trich. I joined this to find ways to guide me into using that anxiety for something useful that keeps me busy or helps motivate me. 4 days is a great start. I know how difficult it is to set a goal and actually teach it but it's the small victories that count the most. To help me with keeping track of how many days I'm trich free I use an app called "nomo". It's a great reminder to myself each that I'm trying. If I have to reset my time that's okay too as long as I set a new small goal.
cavey
September 16, 2017
Yes, this is going involve much work to overcome. After 5 days of pull/scratch free, I'm back to square one as well and repetitively applying fingernails to same spots for the last 4 hours after a stressful Friday at work, argh! A momentary lapse turned into hours of searching and removing short hairs, and now I'm continuing by scratching hard at skin.

Thanks for the "nomo" suggestion. I downloaded and created a new counter as a reset to 0 days [actually reset to 0 a few times before writing this]

Hope you encounter new activities [especially if you transitioned to nursing school] to keep your mind and hands occupied and distracted away from pulling.


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