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PikNat , 07 Oct 2017

How I stopped pulling my hair.

I've been battling with trichotillomania almost my entire life, I started pulling the hairs on the back, front and sides of my head when I was 10 years old. I am currently 25.
I know people who enjoy pulling an occasional hair every now and then, but that unfortunately wasn't my case at all-
I'd pull lots and lots of hairs throughout the entire day, especially when driving, watching tv or reading a book. It was compulsive and created big visible bald spots.
Year after year I would look at the mirror and feel ashamed and frustrated at the sight of the bald spots who just did not improve, because as soon as there was new growth I'd pull it again.
I tried gloves, hair products, hats..nothing helped. I was honestly starting to doubt whether I would ever stop.
A few months ago my friend told me about something that helped him get rid of his compulsions (knuckle cracking), and so I was super excited to try it.
So before I tell you what was the thing that helped me I'm asking you to please suspended any judgment and keep an open mind-It's called ayahuasca.
It's a Peruvian drug taken as a part of a ceremony and is known for it's remedial properties. It helps with trauma, addiction, compulsion etc.
After attending ONE ceremony I am completely pull-free. The ceremony was in early september, it's now october, and I haven't pulled a single hair since, which is miraculous because I couldn't even go a few hours without pulling. THE URGE TO PULL IS COMPLETELY GONE. I still sometimes reach for my hair but I always notice it and stop myself, and I'm sure this instinct will also soon disappear soon.
I can not even begin to describe the emotional relieve, happiness and improved quality of life.
The ayahuasca helped me deal with the core issues of self acceptance who manifested themselves in the form of hair pulling. It also helped me deal with other issues and problems that have been hunting me for years.
I live in southern california and attended a ceremony here but have heard of ceremonies in other states and of course in south america.
I'm open to talking to anyone here or privately and will post this on other forums in hopes it helps at least one other person!

13 Answers
Hot rod.68
October 31, 2017
Hello,

I’m a man, I’ve had mine nearl 40 years now, I get no relief like some do I get the other which is shameful because I know I shouldn’t be doing it, mine is caused by stress. God I’ve tried for nearly 40 years to stop but can’t, I have spells I can go for weeks but then it starts again sometimes for no reason, probably because I’ve had it for so long now. I try and do things even color book on iPad at my age I don’t care just as long as it helps as the doctors and pills did nothing for me. But I’m happy you getting better because you don’t want it to go on like it has for me. Back then there were no places like here or talk to people because unless they have it they not understand us.
Moo1
August 25, 2021

In reply to by Hot rod.68

Hi There I started pulling when I was 13 I’m now 47 so 34 years of pulling I went to see a hypnotherapist last week who does RTT and hypno together and I haven’t pulled since not once. Please contact me and I’ll give you her details she’s London based

Hello,

I’m a man, I’ve had mine nearl 40 years now, I get no relief like some do I get the other which is shameful because I know I shouldn’t be doing it, mine is caused by stress. God I’ve tried for nearly 40 years to stop but can’t, I have spells I can go for weeks but then it starts again sometimes for no reason, probably because I’ve had it for so long now. I try and do things even color book on iPad at my age I don’t care just as long as it helps as the doctors and pills did nothing for me. But I’m happy you getting better because you don’t want it to go on like it has for me. Back then there were no places like here or talk to people because unless they have it they not understand us.

Lucyw2488
January 03, 2022

In reply to by Moo1

Moo1

Can you share the details with me privately please?


Hi There I started pulling when I was 13 I’m now 47 so 34 years of pulling I went to see a hypnotherapist last week who does RTT and hypno together and I haven’t pulled since not once. Please contact me and I’ll give you her details she’s London based

Hello,

I’m a man, I’ve had mine nearl 40 years now, I get no relief like some do I get the other which is shameful because I know I shouldn’t be doing it, mine is caused by stress. God I’ve tried for nearly 40 years to stop but can’t, I have spells I can go for weeks but then it starts again sometimes for no reason, probably because I’ve had it for so long now. I try and do things even color book on iPad at my age I don’t care just as long as it helps as the doctors and pills did nothing for me. But I’m happy you getting better because you don’t want it to go on like it has for me. Back then there were no places like here or talk to people because unless they have it they not understand us.

daydreamer
December 19, 2017
I've been dealing with it for 15 years. I never was able to stop because I felt I was the only one going through this. After I realized this was something others was going through and it had a name, I decided to find a way to stop. I did intensive research, trying everything possible. What cured it was hypnotherapy believe it or not. I'd listen to it everyday before I go to bed and in the morning. After a few days I noticed my urge to pull had slowly gone away. I now have a full set of hair and haven't pulled in 2 years. https://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/bad-habits/hair-pulling?5896
Lara Machlab
December 27, 2017
Hi,
I'd love to hear more about this.
If we can talk privately I would be very grateful.
lana
January 19, 2018
I've been pulling for 20 years now and nothing helped but this product guys it's pretty new and afforable .. http://rapidtory.com/9O4r
I bought it a 6 weeks ago and I'm already witnessing results
A2197
January 26, 2018
I started pulling my hair when i was about 13. At first I didn't realise what i was doing. Over the months my hair became incredibly damaged, broken and uneven. I'd significant bald patches on my sides especially. I got no thrill from pulling my hair but found some satisfaction in it all the same. People started to notice my hair loss and being in an all girls school i was becoming very humiliated by it. I went to a hairdresser in 2013 and I remember she was asking why i had such uneven hair. It is very embarrassing when you suffer from hair puling to try and explain why your hair is the way it is. That day in the hairdresser really put things into perspective for me. I remember thinking I didn't want to be embarrassed like that again. I actually haven't gone to a hairdresser since so its been about 5 years now! But my hair has never been healthier. It took a long time but this year it is finally all the one length which is something i thought i would never ever achieve again. My side hair is now the same length as the rest of my hair and i get my mother and friends to trim the ends for me just to keep it healthy. I'm going to make my first trip back to the hairdresser this month and its a big milestone for me. I would urge you not to loose hope. You can and will over come this. For me it was the realisation of what i was doing that shocked me into overcoming it. I did not want to be like this forever. You can do it. We all can. Its a long road I won't lie. It took me te best part of 5 years to grow my hair to a healthy length again. But i honestly never think of pulling it any more because its a real thing of pride now for me knowing i grew it. I do however have a compulsive urge to spilt my spilt ends which is something i havent overcome yet but baby steps!!
Just hang in there, it's not a futile mission. You will get there.
A2197
January 26, 2018
I started pulling my hair when i was about 13. At first I didn't realise what i was doing. Over the months my hair became incredibly damaged, broken and uneven. I'd significant bald patches on my sides especially. I got no thrill from pulling my hair but found some satisfaction in it all the same. People started to notice my hair loss and being in an all girls school i was becoming very humiliated by it. I went to a hairdresser in 2013 and I remember she was asking why i had such uneven hair. It is very embarrassing when you suffer from hair puling to try and explain why your hair is the way it is. That day in the hairdresser really put things into perspective for me. I remember thinking I didn't want to be embarrassed like that again. I actually haven't gone to a hairdresser since so its been about 5 years now! But my hair has never been healthier. It took a long time but this year it is finally all the one length which is something i thought i would never ever achieve again. My side hair is now the same length as the rest of my hair and i get my mother and friends to trim the ends for me just to keep it healthy. I'm going to make my first trip back to the hairdresser this month and its a big milestone for me. I would urge you not to loose hope. You can and will over come this. For me it was the realisation of what i was doing that shocked me into overcoming it. I did not want to be like this forever. You can do it. We all can. Its a long road I won't lie. It took me te best part of 5 years to grow my hair to a healthy length again. But i honestly never think of pulling it any more because its a real thing of pride now for me knowing i grew it. I do however have a compulsive urge to spilt my spilt ends which is something i havent overcome yet but baby steps!!
Just hang in there, it's not a futile mission. You will get there.
TizFUNK
May 30, 2021
piknat are you still active on here?, i just came across your post and I have been wanting to try this to help. My issue was finding a legit and trustoworthy place to go, i would love some info.
calm-life
August 22, 2021
I have had trich since I was 13. I also felt tremendous comfort when I realized there was a name for what I had and that there were other people out there. I also felt tremendous frustration in my years of trying to stop but not being able to. It was like I myself wanted to, but my body didn't; and my body was in control.

Recently, I have come across a breakthrough understanding of the foundations of our condition. An understanding of what the underlying cause of all of it is. AND how to fix it at its root. This fundamental understanding of how our body works has also helped me in every area of my life. And it has allowed me to finally begin to live a constantly calm life.

At its core, plucking hair is no different than biting your nails. Let me explain.

You see you are a ball of emotions. Some are good emotions and some are bad emotions. And your body is very smart. So when your body starts experiencing a bad emotion your body chooses - on its own - that it would be in your best interest to not feel this negative emotion. Therefore your body says ok start biting your nail, or start plucking your hair. This way you won't think about your negative emotion. You'll instead think about your hair, or more accurately the sensation/ pain you feel from plucking. In short your body decides to distract you. And then you get more nervous/mad at yourself i.e. you begin experiencing more negative emotions, and so you're body ends up compelling you to pull even more hair to distract you from your now even worse negative emotions and so on and so forth. And this is how you end up in the downard spiraling mess of a plucking session where you leave just thinking to yourself what the heck just happened.

So now what you need to do is change your mindset so that you don't develop these negative emotions: what your mindset should be is a bigger discussion/ there is just a lot to write and I don't have time - and please reply if you are interested in hearing.

However there is one more critical point that I need to make. Changing your mindset is like painting a wall a fresh new layer of white! however if you paint a brand new layer of fresh white paint over a moldy wall, well then you didn't do anything besides cover up a moldy wall for a little amount of time until the mold destroys the new paint as well. This analogy is like us; we are full of mold, we are full of these negative emotions built up inside of us. Emotions don't go anywhere, they sit in your body until you release them ( how to release them is also another discussion). so In order to change our mindset and live a fresh new life going forward we have to deal with all that moldy build up inside of us. That means we have to deal with all those feels of nervousness/ anger/ pressure that we have actually been ignoring all these past years, by instead plucking. (Yes, when you plucked you were really ignoring , subconciously, your feelings. )

Once we face these feelings - specifically anxiety, pressure, and anger our bodies will not need to distract us from them as we have made it very well known to our bodies that we are not scared. Afterall - and what I am about to say is extremely important - afterall, a feeling is just a feeling.

One quick, but also very very important caveat ( which also needs more explaining) - your negative feelings of anxiety, pressure, and anger are really "outer layer emotions." What I mean by this is that these emotions are really caused becasue you are feeling other things such as fear of failure, regret, guilt, and or inferiority. Let me just give you one example. If someone calls you a bad name and you get angry at them, whats really happening below the surface is that they made you feel inferior, by putting you down, and that is why you feel angry

The reason why I started off by saying that plucking your hair is no different than biting your nails is so that you don't feel ashamed of your condition. At its root it is a very normal condition which millions of people go through in some way, unfortunately it just happened to be that our bodies chose to distract us in this way instead of that.

There is a lot more to the solution here, but it is fundamentally life changing. And with this you have a toolbox that you can take with you and apply to any situation in your life. Again, if this is interesting to you please reach out. I don't know how you do it on here, by responding or messaging directly, I don't know this is my first forum. There is a lot more to be uncovered. And the results are electrifying!
Elqueen
January 13, 2022
I've been battling with trichotillomania almost my entire life, I started pulling the hairs on the back, front and sides of my head when I was 10 years old. I am currently 25.
I know people who enjoy pulling an occasional hair every now and then, but that unfortunately wasn't my case at all-
I'd pull lots and lots of hairs throughout the entire day, especially when driving, watching tv or reading a book. It was compulsive and created big visible bald spots.
Year after year I would look at the mirror and feel ashamed and frustrated at the sight of the bald spots who just did not improve, because as soon as there was new growth I'd pull it again.
I tried gloves, hair products, hats..nothing helped. I was honestly starting to doubt whether I would ever stop.
A few months ago my friend told me about something that helped him get rid of his compulsions (knuckle cracking), and so I was super excited to try it.
So before I tell you what was the thing that helped me I'm asking you to please suspended any judgment and keep an open mind-It's called ayahuasca.
It's a Peruvian drug taken as a part of a ceremony and is known for it's remedial properties. It helps with trauma, addiction, compulsion etc.
After attending ONE ceremony I am completely pull-free. The ceremony was in early september, it's now october, and I haven't pulled a single hair since, which is miraculous because I couldn't even go a few hours without pulling. THE URGE TO PULL IS COMPLETELY GONE. I still sometimes reach for my hair but I always notice it and stop myself, and I'm sure this instinct will also soon disappear soon.
I can not even begin to describe the emotional relieve, happiness and improved quality of life.
The ayahuasca helped me deal with the core issues of self acceptance who manifested themselves in the form of hair pulling. It also helped me deal with other issues and problems that have been hunting me for years.
I live in southern california and attended a ceremony here but have heard of ceremonies in other states and of course in south america.
I'm open to talking to anyone here or privately and will post this on other forums in hopes it helps at least one other person!


Seeing this 5 years later, are you still pull free?
Trichtser961
August 28, 2023

Hello, are you still pull free? I am very curious to know. Also, if you receive this comment could you please contact me privately? I have a few questions.. 

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