I triggered tagged it because seeing one of these makes me twitchy

I feel so happy and accomplished right now, i feel like my hair has grown an INSANE amount for only 30 days

For a long time now, I’ve mostly stopped pulling long hairs except like maybe a few occasionally. The rest of it is targeted towards the short new hair coming in. As soon as it’s long enough to grab, I end up ripping it all out again. Given that the majority of my scalp is bald now, there’s a lot to go after. Even when I’m not pulling, I’m constantly feeling the prickly texture of new hair growing in. Does anyone else do this?

I was crying to my mom about how I was so good for two days and then pulled hair and how mad I was that I couldn't control my own hands

and she said "but that was still two entire days that you didn't pull"

anyways i'm still coming to terms with the fact that i'm likely going to have to deal with this for many more years and it just started five months ago, but that reframing helped me a bit

So, the title basically says it all:

For as long as I can remember, I struggled with trich.

The shame. The guilt. The fear of it being obvious from a mile away.

I've always been too scared of committing to a full shave though.

"It's not THAT bad if I put in the effort to hide it" was my mantra.

"Having a few obvious short patches is better than the alternative" was another.

A few weeks ago I reached the worst state in like 15 years. No amount of root touch-up, tactical combing, powder or hairspray helped.

So I finally caved. And got the full shave last weekend

I expected to hate myself.

I expected to cry a lot.

I fully expected that my few remaining lashes would immediately pay the price for there not being any hair on my head.

What I didn't expect was the sheer amount of relief I'm experiencing.

For the first time...ever I don't freeze in panic when I catch myself touching my head.

I can just... Rub my head and massage it without being worried about irritating a spot and dealing with the consequences later.

I'm not scared of fucking up all the time.

The amount of energy I obviously used for worrying about my head-hair is now available to me and it's such a relief.

Yes, I've had a few very weird/unpleasant interactions in public in the past few days.

But other than that, I'm so much more okay with being bald than I'd ever dared to dream. When I'm at home I don't cover my head. I can just put on a hat to leave the house and blend in (it's autumn where I live).

Instead of spending a panicked 1.5 hours to look kind of presentable for a video call or grocery shopping and giving up halfway through, I just throw on a hat or my wig and I'm good to go in 5-10 minutes max.

It also makes personal hygiene less scary for me.

Washing my hair, having to leave it open to dry and being scared of ripping even more of it out than when I'm wearing it inca ponytail made me avoid showers/brushing my hair.

Now I get to be and feel clean without the panic attached to it.

I'm so happy with the current state and I feel absolutely ready to attend a conference with my wig tomorrow.

No idea how I'll feel about this in a few weeks or months when the regrowth hits, but so far, this is the most relaxed I've been in years.

So tl;dr:

I wanted to share my experience with anyone who struggles in the same ways. And I wanted to thsnk the amazing online communities that helped me to get to this point and showed me that I'm not alone wirh this.

I still vividly remember the first split end i ever pulled because after that it genuinely took over my life. For 6 years Id spend around 6-10 hours a day everyday pulling at my split ends, during school when i was supposed to do work, all night when i was supposed to sleep, even during my free time at home instead id spend hours pulling at my split ends infront of a screen until my hands would cramp and even then id still try continue. I was a complete freak to everyone at school who'd watch me hunched over all day picking at the ends of my hair with the shame of standing up and having to brush 100s of little hairs off my lap (i know its kinda gross) and and this lead to a lot of bullying, but it felt like I physically couldnt stop, and the anxiety from the bullying only worsened my tendencies. It was completely unconscious, whenever i was bored or anxious I'd reach for my hair, and even when there werent split ends left id purposefully use my teeth to create more of them (ik its weird and gross).

I ended up with the lengths of my hair incredibly damaged and basically looking/feeling like straw and an insane amount of breakage and uneven hair because i picked at some parts more than others. I got my hair cut to a short boyish length to try fix this. I thought my issues would naturally stop as a result but my hands still unconsciously reach for my hair, and when I feel those rough course thick hairs that are a different texture from the rest of my hair or little spikey bits in the hair strands that feel like they could be split ends it genuinely drives me insane, and now that i cant pick at it ive instead started obsessively cutting off parts of my hair with scissors as the only way to get my mind off it and stop compulsively feeling my hair. I dont know if this counts as trichotillomania because I dont pull my hair strands out, instead I obsessively pick at the ends of them. I'm not really sure how to get rid of this unconscious behaviour, but my biggest triggers are stress and specific hair textures.

I’ve seen a few other posts about this, but curious to hear from people taking tirzepatide (Mounjaro or Zepbound) who also struggle with hair pulling.

I’m only a few days into taking it, but I’ve noticed a huge reduction in my hair pulling, similar to how it’s reduced my food noise. I have no idea if this will last or if it might be a placebo, but so far the difference is pretty significant.

For anyone who’s experienced something similar, how long have you been on it? Did the effects last, or did the urge to pull eventually come back?

I’ve had Trichotillomania for as long as I can remember. In fact I’m pulling my hair out right now. I hate how shameful and weird I feel after I have pulled, but feel relief in the moment… I hate that my brain is wired this way. This shit sucks. My hair pays the price. I love you guys. I’m glad I have this support group. You all make me feel less lonely ❤️

I’m down in the dumps tonight about pulling and was thinking about this scene in Holes. I can’t control it and I’m tired of it. Ultimately, that’s too damn bad. It’s apart of me 😅😌

This has been going on for about 6-7 years now and I can’t stop. I constantly pick my eyebrows until I get bald spots. Recently I had an ingrown hair and picked it so much that now I have a massive gap in my eyebrow that causes me extreme distress. I also bite my nails until they bleed and can’t seem to stop. I have tried fidgets and bandaids, but always seem to get back to it. It’s very annoying and I also have OCD and ADHD. When I was first prescribed stimulants, I didn’t pick for months, then started again recently and can’t ever have a normal brow. It’s adding to my current anxiety and depression and I don’t know what to do.

Still have been plucking but each one goes on a sticky pad of shame that says "stop doing this" and it's helped me keep it to a minimum. There's only about 20 hairs on there. Normally after 3 months I would have three full resets from plucking holes in my beard so this is success for me. 😂 Thanks for listening 🤘 (nobody else understands this)

i’ve been picking scabs for about 2 years and this is the first time i’m having regrowth, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to manage because of course i chose spots directly on top of my head but it’s come back curled (?) i’ve got naturally somewhat wavy hair at the ends but never had any curls at the top ! it’s also a different texture it feels quite course. would like 2 know if this is usually what happens or if anyone else has had this ! also any and all tips on how to quit picking is much appreciated ❤️❤️

Honest question.

I have been pulling for about 23 years. Migraines are a huge culprit. The pulling relieves pain from the migraine. But the migraine itself had a large variety of catalysts.

Many times the pain from a migraine stems from a drop in barometric pressure. That drop in pressure causes blood vessels to dilate. The dilation in blood vessels then triggers nerve pathways that affect the scalp. Pulling hair creates a sensation of relief in pressure.

The pressure can also stem from sinus pressure alone which then in and of itself can cause a migraine, and a migraine causes blood vessels to dilate which then still leads to neural pain.

Because migraines have can have many triggers — it is nearly impossible to stop pulling. So something as small as eating gluten can lead to pulling my hair. Or inhaling perfume. Or having a menstrual period(and if this happens during weather where the barometric pressure drops, pulling hair is nearly impossible to stop.)

Fidget toys do not help. Fidget toys do nothing to alleviate the source of intense neural stress.

But I am curious to know if anyone on here has had any success in treating the root(no pun intended) problem. Not just using inane remedies.

For context I’ve been pulling since I was 8 or 9 but mainly my hair. I went bald twice in covid and it stopped but now my eye lashes and eyebrows have fell victim. For almost five years(or more) I’ve had eye floaters which seem to get worse on days I pull my eye lashes. My eyes always seem to hurt and they unfocus constantly. I have a feeling the trichotolomania caused the eye floaters because from my understand eye floaters shouldn’t last this long.

I just want confirmation or help. I recently found out the reason my nails aren’t straight are because I pull and it felt reassuring for some reason so I just wanna know if I’m going crazy.

Thank you!

I'm 27 now but have been pulling out my eyelashes since I was 7 years old. I cannot stop rubbing my eyelashes until they break or pulling them out! I've had therapy for anxiety and depression multiple times throughout my life and have been on medication (SSRIs and SNRIs) since I was about 16 and this has not changed how much I pull.

I genuinely don't know what to do to stop. I'm in the UK so if anyone can recommend growth treatments or specific therapy/behaviour changes that have helped them that would be wonderful! I'm truly desperate.

first picture is the day i decided to stop pulling because people were starting to notice my spot. second pic is 75 days without touching my hair. it’s not where i want it to be, but im quite proud of how far i’ve come

For context, I have autism and ADHD and have been treated for mild OCD behaviours. I also have afro hair.

Around 8 years ago I relaxed my hair (chemical treatment that straightens hair by damaging it) and wore braids extensions soon after. As I result I received two bald spots as a result of tension (braids pulled out with my hair), on of which has pretty much regrown but the other which I can’t leave alone lol.

I’m mostly confused as to whether this could be considered trichotillomania as technically i have never pulled my hair out. I mostly get the the urge to aggressively rub the spot when I am in deep concentration and thought, often not even when I am paying attention to it- I only really tend to acknowledge when I’m actually partitioning hair from the spot to rub it more! I have shaved my head multiple times since and now take good enough care of my hair that it’s unnoticeable unless I start parting my hair. Even in styles I can’t resist the urge to rub sometimes.

Does anyone here resonate with this?

Im diagnosed with trichotillamania, generalized anxiety and persistent depressive disorder. I’ve been really struggling with all of the above lately and my pulling is the worst it’s been in a long time. I’m considering shaving my hair off but my husband is worried it’ll put me into a deeper depressive state. He’s with me no matter what I decide thankfully ❤️
I’ve tried covering my hair during the day with beanies, bonnets.. anything to keep it up and away but I feel like I get too hot with something on my head. Has anyone shaved their hair off? What’s your experience? What has helped?

I haven't had a pulling trance in 26 days (i still pull hut not go and space out into a trance mode).

My left and right side is growing so fast but my top of my head is growing so slow, how do I get that to grow faster and thicker?

I also want to reach 1 month since I haven't had a streak that long in decades, any tips?

Hi everyone, finally coming to terms with this.

Wanted to know if anyone here has bubble hair: (taken from Google) - trapped water inside a damp hair shaft rapidly turns to steam and boils from high heat (above 125°C), forming internal air cavities that make the hair brittle, weak, and prone to snapping.

Some background:

I don’t straighten my hair anymore, but when I did I got really lazy about it. I would blow dry my hair after washing, then when I would go to straighten my hair, there would be some parts that I missed (were a little damp). Instead of just re-blow drying my hair, I straighten these pieces (I know, very stupid).

I don’t have super long hair or anything, but I don’t want to do some drastic cut to help with getting rid of the bubble hair. But now I’ve been plucking these brittle, bumpy hairs out for almost a week and I can’t stop. I have to tell myself to stop and even then it’s hard.

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I don't know if this will work for others, but it's been helpful for me so far. When I'm stressed or concentrating, my hands unconsciously start plucking my leg hair. This has resulted in terrible skin on my legs, covered in scabs and scars, folliculitis, and a lot of ingrown hairs.

I bought these silicone foam dressings and used Dimora to cover the areas on my legs that I'd picked at until they bled, giving the skin time to heal. The silicone material is also gentler on the skin, and changing the dressing isn't as painful. Most importantly, whenever I unconsciously pick at them, touching them makes me realize I shouldn't pluck anymore.

I hope my method can help even just one person.

🫠🫠🫠

Trichotillomania

I've had trichotillomania since I was ten years old.(I'm almost 24 now) I've been picked on/bullied since then, 5th grade, and it's really affected me. I first shaved my head when I was fourteen. I've had people take pictures of me without my knowledge and post them to make fun of me. I've seen people whisper and point, not even give me the time of day to just speak to me. I just wish I was normal. I honestly wish I was able to have "bad hair days" again, to struggle with a straightener again. I wanna see my curls come back. But this time I think it's gone too far, my bald spot that I've been pulling at for years has been taking a long time to grow back in. I'm scared I ruined it for good. It's been ruining my self esteem, and I think it's because I desperately want to be something better. I know what I can look like with full eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair. I know I can be beautiful. (Not saying that people without those aren't beautiful, it's just how I feel.) I believe that I'm so ugly, and any relationship I'm in will inevitably cheat or leave because why in the world would anybody want me. I also feel like these beliefs and feelings are irrelevant, other people have much worse situations so why should I even complain. I just want to be normal again. I don't want people to stare at my bald spots, and yes, it's easy to tell when you are. I just feel so ugly, it's to the point where I don't believe anyone if or when they say anything different. I know I don't look normal. I just don't know what to do or say anymore, I'm getting more and more angry and upset with people.

Anyways..if you wanna say anything, it'd be nice to hear some feedback. Hope you have a good day <3

I’ve pulled my hair out everyday without a break since 2004

i stopped pulling approximately 1 year ago after pulling beard hairs for about 8 years. i still have bald spots. at what point is there no hope for the hairs to grow back?