Trichotillomania..28 years + - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Message Board

justjustine · 06-01-2005, 01:00 AM

Hello

I have been pulling my hair out of my scalp and sometimes my eyebrows for over 25 years now. It started when I was about 13 and I had a bad time of it. Lots of very large bald spots on my head that were very hard to conceal while I was in high school. I seem to have good periods when just tugging at my hair seems to help.

A question: Do other sufferers have a very sensitive area on their scalps that they seem to gravitate to. I have recently been in the hospital for back surgery and while I was there I managed to pull out enough hair to create a bald spot about the size of a quarter. I have now come to realize after many years of thinking about it that when I get into an anxious state, pulling my hair puts me into a zone.....a kind of relaxed state. I didn't think I would have to deal with another bald spot again after so many years but I have to say to myself "WHAT THE HECK...IT GROWS BACK" I have so much hair that a little bit won't be missed for a while.

I have been going out with a gentleman for about 9 months now and have not mentioned any of this to him. Tonight he noticed a gray hair in the back of my head and then noticed the bald spot. I thought, oh god he's going to think I'm nuts. Quite the contrary....he was very understanding and actually rubs my head for me while we are hanging out watching TV

*music23* · 06-05-2005, 12:53 PM

Hi,
Not to kick you out of the OCD board or anything lol! But there are lots of trich sufferers on the self-injury recovery board. You may be able to find more help there.
Kristina

orangeena · 06-05-2005, 07:44 PM

Hi Justine
I have been dealing with this since I was about 13 as well...about 18-19 years. I definitely have a certain spot. Or spots I should say!

I've never actually created a completely bald spot; however there have been times when it was thinned out in a small area to the point where my hairdresser noticed it. I was mortified. At the time I had really long hair and he asked if I pull my hair back alot with plain rubber bands. I lied and said "that must be it!" and got a scolding about buying some hair ties. That was the first time that I even realized it got that bad that it was noticable. Luckily, I tend to favor spots down near the base of my neck so that the rest of my hair pretty much covers it up.

What I have noticed lately, though, is that these areas of my scalp are greying waaaay faster than anywhere else on my head. I have a few greys here and there but, these areas are almost all grey. I only notice that, though, when my roots start to show! hehe.

IBGECKO · 06-06-2005, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by *music23*

Hi,
Not to kick you out of the OCD board or anything lol! But there are lots of trich sufferers on the self-injury recovery board. You may be able to find more help there.
Kristina

I just checked out that board and didn't see any Trich threads. There have been several on this board, though, and Trich is part of the OCD family. It's not really a self-injury disorder, but rather a compulsive anxiety disorder. OCD, baby. OCD.

*music23* · 06-06-2005, 06:18 PM

I'm surprised to see that you're right about there being no trich threads on that board. In the past I have seen many.
But self-injury is a compulsive act! And trich IS a form of self-injury! It may partially stem from OCD but it is considered to be self-injury.
If you start a thread on trich in the self-injury forum, I'm pretty sure you will find some people that are suffering from the same problem, assuming all the trich sufferers have coincidentally disappeared since.
Kristina