Pulling out hair might seem like a weird habit, but the truth is that around two percent of the population also do this. Pulling your hair from any area of the body is known as trichotillomania (or trich), which is a disorder causing you to pull out your own hair.
Trich can have terrible effects, both physical and emotional, for those who suffer with it. Here are a few things to think about if you want to stop.
1) Find the Cause:
There are a few common reasons why people develop trichotillomania:
* As a way of coping with stressful times, *After having experienced childhood trauma, *Boredom, *Diet, *Tiredness, and much more.
The more you can learn about why you pull your hair out, the easier it will become to treat that cause and improve your situation.
2) Finding Ways to Deal With Stress:
No matter why you started pulling your hair, learning to handle stress better is a great way of starting to pull less.
This might be easier said than done, but over time you will learn to recognise the stressful situations that trigger trichotillomania. Talk about them to your friends and family if possible, and consider counselling to help you work through underlying stress.
3) Drugs:
Taking drugs is not going to magically cure your trich, unfortunately. So don’t just rely on your doctor. He or she may not even understand the condition fully – and could even prescribe Prozac which is unlikely to work. Try to use the other methods mentioned here.
4) Meditation and Hypnosis:
These are some alternative therapies that you can try to help improve hair pulling, and they could work for a number of reasons:
* They can help you to understand yourself, and your pulling, more clearly, * They can help you to relax, * They can stop you from think it’s your fault that you pull, * And they can clear your mind in times of stress.
5) Accepting Trich: This is the best way you can help yourself to stop pulling out hair or to do it less – you can stop hurting yourself emotionally when you realise that hair pulling is common.