Trichotillomania is a condition where people feel a strong urge to pull out their hair. Pulling hair out can temporarily release tension, giving a feeling of relief. You may find that stress triggers your hair-pulling, or you may do it when you feel relaxed.
Trichotillomania (trik-o-til-o-MAY-nee-uh), also called hair-pulling disorder, is a mental disorder that involves recurrent, irresistible urges to pull out hair from your scalp, eyebrows or other areas of your body, despite trying to stop.
A person with trichotillomania may experience the following behavioral and physical symptoms: repetitive pulling of their hair, often without any awareness. a sense of relief after pulling out hair. inability to stop hair pulling, despite repeated attempts to stop.
Trichotillomania is a disorder characterized by chronic hair pulling that often results in alopecia. Eating the part of hair pulled out is a common practice and trichorhizophagia is a new term to denote the habit of eating the root of hairs pulled out, associated with trichotillomania.
Trichotillomania (often abbreviated as TTM) is a mental health disorder where a person compulsively pulls out or breaks their own hair. This condition falls under the classification of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Trichotillomania is an independent diagnosis but is highly comorbid, meaning it frequently occurs with other conditions. Anxiety and depression are the most common comorbidities, followed by ADHD.
Some have argued that hair pulling in trichotillomania (TTM) is triggered by traumatic events, but reliable evidence linking trauma to TTM is limited. However, research has shown that hair pulling is associated with emotion regulation, suggesting a connection between negative affect and TTM.
While people on the autistic spectrum often have comorbid trichotillomania and other BFRBs, the reverse correlation does not appear to hold true, and no scientific evidence could be found indicating that autism causes trichotillomania.
Trichotillomania. This condition is an impulse control disorder caused by anxiety or stress. Often called “hair-pulling disorder,” people with trichotillomania have the irresistible urge to pull out their own hair, eyelashes or eyebrows. The area of hair loss is usually asymmetric and follows an irregular pattern.
Trichotillomania is on the obsessive-compulsive spectrum, which means that it shares many symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), such as compulsive counting, checking, or washing.
If untreated, trichotillomania is a chronic illness that often results in substantial psychosocial dysfunction, and that can, in rare cases, lead to life-threatening medical problems.
Trichotillomania impacts adults and children. The condition is more common in children ages 9–13 years than other age brackets. Older adolescents and teens with trichotillomania often experience increasingly severe symptoms the longer the condition is present.
Vitamin D deficiency has been correlated with non-scarring alopecia including alopecia areata or female pattern hair loss. It was theorized that hair loss secondary to vitamin D deficiency in patients susceptible to trichotillomania may exacerbate this obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Research on treatment of trichotillomania is limited. However, some treatment options have helped many people reduce their hair pulling or stop entirely.
Bipolar disorder falls under the category of mood disorders while trichotillomania falls under the category of Obsessive Compulsive and Related disorders.
SSRIs and clomipramine are considered first-line in TTM. In addition, family members of TTM patients are often affected by obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. Other drugs used in the treatment of TTM are lamotrigine, olanzapine, N-Acetylcysteine, inositol, and naltrexone.
Trichotillomania has also been linked to impulsive behavior and sensation seeking, which are both often present in substance use disorders. Trichotillomania itself has been considered a form of addiction, as those with trichotillomania may experience withdrawal or difficulty stopping hair-pulling behaviors.
Pre-puberty, men and women are equally affected; after puberty, women are 5-10 times more likely to be affected by TTM (Swedo et al., 1992). MGH Trichotillomania Clinic has approximately 12:1 female to male population.
It is commonly seen in depression and many other psychiatric disorders. Trichotillomania rarely occurs as a co morbid condition in patients with schizophrenia. Even rarer is recurrent hair pulling in response to psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia.
In people with trichotillomania, brain imaging studies have shown abnormalities in activity in certain regions of the brain, including areas involved in regulating impulses and habits, emotional processing, and reward processing. Neuroimaging research also points to abnormal activity in those with OCD.
Higher neuroticism, higher openness, and lower agreeableness were associated with greater pulling severity. Higher neuroticism was also associated with less control over hair pulling. Higher neuroticism and lower openness were associated with greater focused pulling.
Among the participants, 24.9% of the people with lifetime trichotillomania reported that they no longer had symptoms of trich, and that they had never received treatment for it. These rates are similar to rates of natural recovery for other conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and substance abuse.