Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania, a hair-pulling disorder, involves an irresistible urge to pull out hair. This behavior occurs to the point of noticeable hair loss. The most common areas for hair pulling are the scalp, eyelashes and eyebrows, but may involve hair anywhere on the body.

Trichotillomania is a type of impulse control disorder. Impulse control disorders are mental illnesses that involve the repeated failure to resist impulses, or urges, to act in ways that are dangerous or harmful. People with these disorders know that they can hurt themselves or others by acting on the impulses, but they cannot stop themselves.

In children, trichotillomania occurs equally in males and females. In adults, it is more common in women than in men.

A person with trichotillomania cannot control or resist the urge to pull out his or her body hair. Other symptoms that might occur with this disorder include:

• A sense of tension before pulling hair or when trying to resist the urge to pull hair
• A feeling of relief, satisfaction and/or pleasure after acting on the impulse to pull hair
• Presence of bare patches where the hair has been pulled out
• Presence of other associated behaviors such as inspecting the hair root, twirling the hair, pulling the hair between the teeth, chewing on the hair or eating hair (called trichophagia)

Many people who have trichotillomania try to deny they have a problem and may attempt to hide their hair loss by wearing hats, scarves, and false eyelashes and eyebrows.

The exact cause of trichotillomania is not yet known, but it appears to involve both biological and behavioral factors. Research has found a potential link between impulse control disorders, such as trichotillomania, and certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters help nerve cells in the brain send messages to each other. An imbalance of these chemicals can affect how the brain controls impulses. It also is believed that stress can trigger the impulsive behavior, and that some people continue the behavior out of habit.

In some cases, people with trichotillomania also have other disorders such as depression or anxiety. This suggests that there might be a link between these disorders and the development of trichotillomania. In addition, the risk of developing trichotillomania is slightly higher in people who have relatives with the disorder, suggesting that a tendency for the disorder may be inherited.

My trichotillomania involves  only eyebrow pulling and a few times in my life, under severe stress, I did remove my eyelashes one by one with my hands. The first time was at the beginning of a sexual molestation that began at around age 10.  The second was when I had the molester convicted.  Ever since, I have sooner or later pulled out each eyebrow, depending on my stress level at the time.  I do not pull my hair from my head.

Do you know anyone like this? Am I alone? I am not hiding it anymore, it's kinda like "comming out of the closet" LOL.