Welcome to my blog about pulling out hair. Hair pulling can actually be classified as a disorder known as trichotillomania, which is what this blog is about.
The main aim is to raise awareness of trichotillomania while at the same time helping those suffering from trichotillomania or those who know someone else who is suffering from trichotillomania.
About This Blog
Although most of the posts are written by me, Penny, this trichotillomania blog is designed for anyone to contribute. The aim is not to profit financially (though I include ads to cover the running costs only) but to share and profit personally and emotionally. It does not replace existing trich blogs or websites or compete with them. Rather it will promote them in order to serve the aims above as fully as possible.
What Can You Contribute?
Absolutely all experiences are welcomed. It would be great to see:
- The experiences of both men and women.
- The experience of different age groups.
- Those who got over their trich, or those who stopped for short periods, or those who have been pulling for years, maybe decades.
- Experience with different treatments – these may have been successful to some degree, completely unsuccessful, or perhaps you haven’t tried any.
- All kinds of emotions associated with trich – how trich affects your life.
- How you have helped other people with trich, or how others have helped you.
- Factual posts from trichsters or non-trichsters detailing scientific research etc.
I may have missed something, but the point is that absolutely all trich related articles are accepted.
Facts For Those Who Wish To Post
- You can post as often as you want – a one-off post, sporadic posts or a regular journal.
- You do not have to reveal your identity or share any photos. But you can if you want to.
- You will have to sign up to this blog, contact me letting me know your intentions, and I will change your account so you can post.
- If you have your own blog we will link to it, and you can post the same post in both so long as it is trich-related.
- You can edit your own posts whenever you want and remove them whenever you want.
About the Author
Mspennylane/ Penny
I decided to create this blog since I want to do a part to raise awareness about trich, yet my other blog was getting filled with other issues, leaving trich somewhat in the background. I am 23 and have suffered from trich since I was 10. It was at its worst between the ages of 10-12 and now I only have it mildly in comparison. I don’t know why it got better than it did, and I certainly don’t know how to stop completely.
I have finished university and am learning a lot about life, obviously with a lot still to learn.
I have found that blogging has been a great way to accept myself, which includes my trich, and I am always reading about others experiences.
I have not revealed my identity online, so I use the nickname ‘Penny’. I am much more comfortable with trich than I used to be, but I am still not ready. This is partly why I started this blog. I want to raise awareness but I will need the help of others.
See my other blog here: Marmalade Skies
Thank you so much for this support site!!! I hope it can help, to some degree.
Chantel – Thank you, I am sorry I have been so slow to reply to my comments lately. But thank you for visiting and I really hope it can help, if only to read other people’s stories.
Hello,
Im all new to this blog stuff and became quite curious, this might seem funny, when I watched the film, Julie/Julia. So I thought to myself let me check out if there is a blog for TRICH. Well anyway, its nice to see one…
I have been pulling for maybe 25 years… However several people know.. I feel that I hide it very well especially with my hair weave.. Its funny that they have so many solutions with healing it but really its very costly and doesnt work.
I truly beieve that its has to do with some insecurity issues and that we are lacking somthing in our systems..IDK really, IDK what to think anymore.. well ill be checking in soon…
Marie – That is such a nice story about why you came to search for this blog! I’m so glad you found me. I really don’t know what to think about it eiter. I DEFINITELY have insecurity issues, but I wonder if they came as a result of pulling or as a cause of pulling??
I believe it does have to do with security issues. i know ive got a ton of them. weight, beauty… it goes on and on..
hey guys, how are you? I’ve been dealing with this “disease” since I was around 12 and the odd thing is when I was 17 I stopped but then when I was 20 it all began again and I noticed its all in how my stress levels are…when I was 12 my stress was high due to my stepfather and mother splitting up and my mom taking him back and me not liking it and I found the pain from pulling was a good feeling to me and strangely I liked it and wasn’t able to stop! the more people made fun the more i did it and when I turned 17 I stopped and I wish I knew why but mostly I think it was because I was very busy, I had work, school and hanging out with friends and never really had time to think of that eyelash that was itchy or felt thick and needed to go b/c it hurt a lil bit….then at 20 when my ex started degrading me and making me feel like a child b/c he was older and knew more than me I found myself beginning to pull again and then my mom passed away and it only got worse and now I have been pulling for 3 years and I hate it so much, I’m embarrassed to be in public I stay at home a lot and I want to stop so bad but even just one hair a day adds up! I also started doing it to my eyebrows which I never did before. I really think that this disease is a form of our nerves and boredom…I read online the other day that vaseline helps to grow eyelashes and eyebrows back quicker so I’m going to try, like really whats there to lose? I never have talked to another tricher and I’m pretty scared to post this but I need to find help and maybe by talking to other sufferers we can help each other
Ash – Thanks so much for coming here and sharing your story. You know what, I think we can see this as a sign that pulling can protect us in some way. Sometimes when we’re going through periods of stress we might not realise exactly what’s wrong in our life, but increased pulling gives us a sign that we need to make a change. I know we might not always want that change, but it’s a good way of looking at it
Good luck with the Vaseline, hopeflly it will make your lashes harder to pull to. I really hope that leaving your message here has helped in some way too 
i was just as scared too. but i need comfort i others like me. maybe we can chat sometime?
(wmadwmad@aim.com)
I have been pulling my hair off and on for eight years and finally have got to the point where I realize I cannot stop alone. That is why I started looking on the web for answers a way to stop. Has anyone stopped for good? How do you prevent relapses?
Amy – I don’t think there is any way to make sure you’ll never get a relapse, but people have stopped. Check out this post: http://ontrich.com/a-possible-trichotillomania-cure-guest-post.html
No matter how long you manage to stop for, it’s an achievement.
amy hello nice to meet you…i whant to tell you that how i prevent from doing this silly job…i just think to my beauty that goes away while i pull my hair…thats it…you are pulling your beauty away and bringing stress for your self…just shout that you could stop and you will do it!!!just feel your self with an amasing hair ,thik and healthy!i’m 2 months free from trich.so you can too.wish you lucky days
I started pulling when i was 16 around the same time i was rejected from performing arts colleges (although i did not make the link to trichotillomania and this fact until just a few months ago) I am now 22. I pull from my scalp at the back and usually under a layer of hair so that something covers the mess left behind. however recently i pulled from my parting ontop of my head i did this once when i was 17 and never did it again obviously it was too hard to hide. when i was 19 i got an amazing job and met alot of new people, moved away from home and my trick disappeared although i still pulled the odd strand here and there i was not having major pulling episodes at all and so managed about 90% regrowth. i could wear my hair down again and felt amazing! unfortunately i had a hard time last year and i relapsed. and now my hair is worse than ever. i have now worked out my trigger for pulling and that is when i am unhappy with my life and feel like i am not doing what i should be – ie- a job in performing arts doing what i love. when i feel failure for anything including when i put some weight on over winter and feel so horrible about it. i have bought hair extentions from ebay and they seem to help when wearing my hair down for a night out but as for through the day my hair stays firmly in a ponytail. i hope this bad episode will be enough to spur me back on to pull free vibes so i can get that 90% regrowth i once had then the further 10%. i havent been to a hairdressers since i was 16 and my personal hairdresser(my mums friend) knows about it but doesnt understand why and so now ive had a major episode and my hair is that much of a mess i just dont get my hair cut at all. my aim is to go 1 year pull free and have a decent amount of regrowth. followed by 2 more years which should bring my hair back to its full thick self i can just about remember. so i can have girlie nights where i can get mates to straighten my hair instead of the other way round. x
Hey Ally,
I’ve been pulling mostly the hair on my eyes and eyebrows since I was 5, and not I’m 17, but only a few years ago, I started pulling out hair until it became AWFUL, I pulled out from my hairline up to half of my hair and some on the sides! But a few months of not pulling, and it grew back pretty fast. I started again, I know how hard it is, but keep thinking of your long hair, and put up pictures of yourself with long hair everywhere, and even a small one in your wallet, or even your bra! So that anytime you feel the urge, you look at yourself and calm down!
I also pull when I’m stressed (I’m also in the arts!- music), and I’ve noticed, sometimes it’s just when I’m frustrated! So, I started thinking, instead of pulling, maybe my body’s just telling me to lie down, or draw, or relax! Try, TRY as hard as you can of thinking of that before you pull out! I wish you SO MUCH LUCK and I give you ALL MY LOVE!
-Angie
Angie – That’s another good piece of advice, our body is trying to tell us to look after ourself or to slow down when we pull.
Ally – Wow it’s interesting that there was such a strong link between that event and when you started to pull. I really hope you can stop pulling again – it sounds like it’s definitely possible! You achieved really good results before. Good luck and I am sure you can do it
Hi there, My name’s Jane and I’m a freelance journalist: I’m looking for girls with experience of trichotillomania as I think it would make a really interesting feature for one of the glossy women’s magazines.I read your comment and really liked what you said about girls’ nights out and what a treat it would be to straighten your hair: I have mild alopecia and can’t straighten my hair so I can relate, a bit. If you’d consider speaking to me, my email address is commonjane@hotmail.com so drop me a line: it doesnt commit you to anything but we could have a chat and I could explain to you how it would all work. I think trichotillomania is a really fascinating subject and one I havent read much about it in women’s mags, so do get in touch and if you could mention this to anyone with the same condition and ask them if they’re interested I’d be really grateful. Thanks, JaneX
hey guys, the vaseline did seem to help me b/c when I went to pull the vaseline would sting my eye and I would stop but I do tend to do it and I dk when b/c today I noticed some missing and I don’t remember pulling them at all!…I also found I gave myself reasons as to why I shouldn’t be pulling and kept telling myself to stop, my eyes are starting to look better but I’m not saying I’m better b/c I might start again I just need to believe I wont it’s all in controlling your impulsive behaviour and I have a new boyfriend now who treats me really good so that is giving me a reason to stop so I don’t look like an idiot to him and my son is getting older and I don’t want him to copy me cause he does with everything else…also admitting on here that I have a problem has helped b/c it gives me comfort to know I’m not alone and not going to be made fun of for this on here
Ally I also have had the hair pulling problem :S and it all started b/c I didn’t like seeing the odd black hair and was bored on the bus one day so I sat there and pulled out every black hair I saw and it got worse and then it moved to my eyes and now my eyebrows!!…I don’t do it so much to my hair now but when I was younger I use to pull the top hairs out and when they grew in they grew kinda curly/Wavey and they made a whole new patch of weird hair at the top of my hair so I tried parting it different but the hairs would manage to seep through so I use to put it up ALL the time and I’m not a girly person so ppl were surprised but I had to and then I had the eyelashes on top of that so ppl must of really thought I was messed up! but I stopped doing it b/c I cut my hair short and then when that happened I started attacking my eyes again but now I’m committed to stopping it all! I’m so sick of hiding and being shy and having to be something I’m not!
It would be so much nicer to talk to people in person but I’ll take any kind of therapy(I guess you would call this) I can get
Ally your friends should love you for who you are and not for your faults! if I was your friend I honestly would rather talk to you about it and try to help you and I wouldn’t care to straighten your hair! there is no need to be ashamed, it’s something that you can’t control and people just don’t understand that until they have been in your shoes! you need a close friend you can belt your issue out to! and so do I really even though I know I do b/c I noticed she does it to her eyebrows and I think we both know we do it but we just keep it hush hush for some reason…
I had my aunt tell me I looked like an alien and a retard and it made me pull more b/c it stressed me out. I’ve also thought of every person in my life and got rid of all the negative people and since then I have been happier and able to stop pulling so much
you will be able to stop and you will be able to go to a hairdresser again you just need to believe it 
good luck!!
I think I know what you mean! It’s rather annoying, but if I try not pulling, it’s like my mind makes up excuses for a reason to pull (I REALLY hope that doesn’t sound creepy!) It’s awful, like I think, no, this hair looks like someone else’s hair (of a person I don’t like or someone that stresses me out), and then I pull and can’t stop, so I now keep pushing those thoughts out and I’m doing better. I also look at a role model that looks like me, and that helps too, so anytime I get that annoying urge or “excuse” to pull, I think, no, it’s my hair, and it’s beautiful, and my inspiration in “name of person” this person, and I’ll have long hair like them too, I don’t need to pull!
I wish you SO MUCH LUCK!
Angie- No it doesn’t sound weird! believe me! I have thought of many reasons/excuses as to why I should pull that one hair, eyelash, eyebrow etc…I use to want to pull my eyelashes b/c the pain felt good and then it grew to be when it itched it had to go or when it was to thick it had to go or if it hurt a little when I touched it well it had to go to! ugh it is frustrating but I find myself realizing it more now and stopping b/c I don’t want this to take over my life anymore! I use to say to myself well it looks stupid having just a couple patches so why not just rip them all out so I would
I always wondered what people thought of it when they stared at me and I can’t stand it anymore Im sick of being “paranoid” all the time…I have really long eyelashes(usually) that ppl would die for and I haven’t seen them in 4 yrs and hope to god I can soon 
…
I think you will do great even I wish I could leave myself little notes around my apt to remind me of how I am beautiful and I’m going to do great but my roommate would think I’m going nuts lol
I also found myself wearing a hat all the time and now Im so use to it that I can’t stop b/c it is my shield I find, when wearing my hat I feel hidden and I feel like nobody notices and it gives me some sort of comfort, I also make sure my hair is to the side of my face so that if someone were to be beside me they can’t see my lashes all messed up! but today I went out for the first time without my cap and I tried to not let it bug me and it felt good but scary at the same time, I felt like I was being watched but I will continue to do this b/c if I feel like people can see it gives me the extra push to really stop!
Just remember you can do ANYTHING you put your mind to and you will beat this b/c you don’t want it to control your life anymore and you are Beautiful no matter what ppl say or think and you are going to have really beautiful hair but remember it takes time for it to grow back so don’t get discouraged
Best of Luck to you to
and I will try to keep in touch 
Ash – I really do the same thing with black hairs. I just like the thick black ones, and it’s annoying because when they grow back they all seem to be thick and black.
And your message to Ally is so right “there is no need to be ashamed, it’s something that you can’t control and people just don’t understand that until they have been in your shoes”
What you said about getting rid of the negative people in your life is very inspirational – you seem to have a great outlook! That is half the battle I think.
I tend to pick at the thick black hairs that feel kind of kinky or curly b/c I don’t like them and now that Angie wrote how she sd it reminds her of someones hair she doesn’t like well it made a light bulb go off for me! I now know I pulled these hairs b/c my mom had thick wavy hair that was kind of kinky looking and the reason I wanted these hairs gone is b/c ppl made fun of my mom for hair like that so I found myself trying to get rid of them in fear of getting more and having hair like her!!
I have a lot more dark hairs now than what I did before and I started dying my hair with highlights but the thickness isn’t hidden I can feel it so now it’s just to stop getting that urge and to stop thinking its a bad thing cus really the more you pull the more you get!
I try to be positive about this as you need to be, I think this it is mostly in how we see ourselves and how we think people see us so we get paranoid/stressed and the more we get paranoid or stressed out the more we pull and we really need to work on self control and begin loving ourselves for what we do have instead of thinking of how our eyes, eyebrows, and hair looks bad and we need to get rid of it or how it bugs us when really it’s not the hair that’s bugging us it is something in our lives ie. negative ppl, work, family, spouse, sibling, money issues anything and we just need to learn to not take it out on ourselves
at least that is what I think is making part of this the way it is…
we need support from others who do this so we can talk about it and get that lingering feeling out of us and I am soooo glad that I worked up the nerve to join this blog b/c I was scared to death that someone I knew would find this but really now I don’t care b/c if they don’t except me for this then they aren’t worth my time
Ash – You’re so right, it’s not the hair that gets to us it’s all those other things that we worry about. I do agree about that. I’m so glad you’ve got this positive attitude about yourself, it really helps!! Thanks so much for all your posts.
Hi,
I’m also new to ‘blogging’. I’m especially new to talking about my trich. Until watching tv the other day I didn’t even know other people did it or that hair pulling had a name.
I remember noticing that I was pulling my when I was 16, and I am now almost 20. It used to only be a problem to me because of the piles of dark curly hair I left behind, but now I’ve been doing it so much that I have a big (growing) bald spot in the back of my head. Fortunately it is mostly covered since my hair is very curly but I know that if I don’t stop I probably won’t be able to keep it hidden much longer.
It feels really good to be able to talk about it! Some of my family and close friends know that I pull because I do it involuntarily especially when I’m watching tv or studying but I’ve always been way too embarrassed to actually talk to them about it. Once I realized I had a bald spot I told them to tell me to stop whenever they see me, but its so hard and I’m not always with someone who knows about it. I wish I know why I started it and why I do it. I thought I did it when I was stressed but I also do it when I’m bored or anxious or busy. I’ve read that a lot of people go for the thick or different textured hairs, and that’s usually what I do, but it sucks because having thick dark curly hair, most of my hairs are like that!! Every time that I have stopped for a while I end up having a relapse and pull tons of hairs out and cancel out any progress that I had made. I really want to stop because I have really pretty curly hair, but pulling makes it so much thinner and messes up the way it lays.
Again, I am so happy to find this site! I have looked for others but most of them don’t have many active people posting!
Hi Amanda, I see this whole trich thing the same as ppl who bite their nails, they hate doing that also but they can’t stop b/c if their nerves get bad they bite and same as when they are bored…also like with the thickness of hairs well some ppl bite their nails b/c they have a lil piece of nail that doesn’t look or feel right but luckily with people with that issue it can be easily hidden with fake nails or nail polish…I really wish the only problem I had was just my hair but Im really working on not doing the eyelashes and brows!! I found a way for me to leave my hair alone was to wear a hat when Im home that way you cant get to your hair and you get use to it and leave the hat on, also I put my hair up when I go to bed and try to make it neat as possible so I have it in my mind that touching it will only mess it up and I will have to get up and fix it again….we really need to just train ourselves to say this is wrong and it’s not ok or normal and we need to stop, it’s like telling a child to stop sucking their thumb, you just need to stick to your word and eventually it will stop
AmandaJoy – Yeah I definitely go for those thick hairs too. I just hope that reading more about other people having it will help you to deal with it, it really helped my psychologically even if it doesn’t make me always stop pulling.
I’m glad I have found this blog. I have had Trich for 29 years. I began while I was in class when I was living abroad. After that incident, I cannot stop. My parents and sister know about this. My husband is understanding and does not bother me about it.
I just had another relapse as my eyelashes were growing back. It felt so good to pull. Now I have to hide the lost eyelashes with eyeliner again.
My eyelashes were almost looking normal but I had this urge to pull. I do it in front of a mirror. I have been avoiding the mirror the last few months but I could not resist.
I will try to keep in touch in regards to my eyelashes growing back in. Now I feel terrible and my eyes are puffy from the pulling. I hate it after I have done the pulling. When I was doing it, it felt a rush. I had to get most of the eyelashes that have been new and the old ones that were more established.
Thanks again for this blog. I hope to write again later.
it’s a relief for me to have finally found someone with the same disorder as me, everyone else has hair pulling problems which I do to but my worse one is pulling my eyelashes! I have really long and nice eyelashes when they are there!! I tried the vaseline thing and it worked for about a wk but then I find myself pulling the odd eyelash and when you have barely any to begin with the odd pull leads to none eventually esp when it takes 8 wks for it to grow back in the first place. I had to stop doing the vaseline thing cause I got a roommate and wasn’t able to go “naked eyed” with her here in fear of her seeing so I stopped the vaseline and now have bad eyes again. I never pull in the mirror but the mirror is usually where it starts b/c I look in the mirror to see how many I have left and I find myself picking out the ones I don’t like and then later on in my mind it sets that I should pull the crooked, to long, or out of place eyelash and I end up pulling out 6 or more before getting to the one! and I end up finding one that hurts and I have to get rid of that one to, it’s a vicious cycle
….I actually wish I could meet someone with the same problem or even share pictures or something and be able to talk about it more and maybe that will help me feel a lil more comfortable about my problem. I’m mostly worried b/c my bf keeps bringing up marriage and having another child and I really don’t want to have another kid and be scared they are going to take pics of me with them and same as being married b/c ppl want to do your makeup and I wouldn’t be able to do it 
if only ppl knew what we go through, I havent even been to an eye doctor EVER and wont until I stop this and I’m even scared of going to a reg Doctor and Dentist, it’s affecting my health more than anything and I wish I could stop!!!
also I hear the reason vaseline works is because it has vitamin e so Im going to try taking some vitamin e supplements and hope it works!
Ash, I do the same thing with my eyelashes. I do take Vitamin E supplements. I can’t go with naked eyes either. I have to cover my naked eyes (without eyelashes) with eyeliner. I am trying to stay from the mirror. When I’m away from mirrors, I leave my eyelashes alone. I have not tried the Vaseline. I will put the Vaseline on my eyelashes when they have grown back. I used to have lovely eyelashes 29 years ago. I miss them and I wish I can stop pulling my eyelashes out. I thought I was the only one that does that sort of thing with my eyelashes.
~Karen
P.S. Some eyelashes are growing back. I just have to keep my hands away and not look in the mirror.
I do the whole eyeliner thing to and really I hate it cause I can tell ppl know the difference! I put the vaseline on my eyes even if I dont have eyelashes that way it can get to some that are coming in but can’t see them. I also use to cut my finger nails really short so it would be harder to pull and I should prob do that again cause it seems to give me that lil extra bit of time to stop myself from pulling. I use to pull so much that my end of my thumb would go numb and have no feeling from constant pressure on them.
I’ve been doing this for about 12 years but I stopped from age 17-20 and then I just started one day and haven’t been able to stop but I don’t do it nearly as much as I did before and I am starting to get my eyelashes back and I so hope they do!!
oh ash ofcourse you can!!i will pray for you..and you do it for me.wish my hair grows back to me.
Ash – So sorry to hear about what you’re going through. I don’t pull my eyelashes but hopefully you will be able to relate to some other people who’ve commented here that do. All I can say is please remember that pulling does NOT change who you are. I bet you can’t even notice in the photographs – don’t let it stop you doing what you want to do. Does your boyfriend know about it? I bet he still thinks you’re beautiful no matter what. I hope that can give you some comfort.
Misspennylane- sorry I haven’t checked this in awhile I went to a friends place for a month which I was hoping it would give me the distraction I needed to stop pulling but it ends up my friend has some issues and was completely stressed out the whole time I was there which got me stressed out and I ended up pulling more than I did before! I haven’t told my boyfriend yet but I’m sure he has noticed I catch him staring at me sometimes and it scares me so I turn away but I so badly want to tell him just so I stop worrying and stop getting nervous every time I see him.
i would totally love to meet you … i am so up for it. im still processing my problem since third grade
I live in Canada, so not sure if that’s do-able. I am still struggling with this and now I am 26 and pregnant with my second child
I wanted to so badly stop so I could take some pics of me preg professionally but it sadly wont happen again. I wish I had a close friend I could talk to about this also. I am always trying to find someone with this disorder who I can talk too but it seems I’m the only person around.
Karen – Thanks, I really do hope they grow back ok!
Oh my goodness, it’s such a relief to discover my problem isn’t something i should hide from anymore. I’ve not been pulling for a very long time. I’ve been biting my nails badly since my childhood but over the past 2 years i’ve started pulling clumps of hair out of my head. I tend to do it when i’m stressed, watching tv and bored. I’ve also noticed i stop for short periods of time, but when i realize i have, i pull so much out in one go that it feels like my head is on fire. It stings terribly. I also go for the crown of my head and behind my ears. Many people who have noticed me pulling hair out unaware, have asked me why i do it. I explain that i actually don’t understand why i do and they think it’s crazy that i can’t stop myself. It’s such a relief to know i’m not alone in doing this. I’m going through a very tough break up at the moment, it seems to be making my hair pulling considerably worse, so i do believe it is stress related in some way. I’m glad to know i can talk to people on this blog about my pulling. A good friend of mine pulls out her eyebrows, she was also unaware that it was an actually disorder. It has brought some comfort to her too. I’m going to forward the link of this blog onto her. I’m sure it will help her also to talk about it with people suffering with the same condition. Thank you Penny for raising awareness, also to everyone else for sharing their experiences. I honestly thought i was losing my mind. Now i know i’m not alone in this. It’s brought great comfort to me. Thank you
Samantha – I think it is stress related too, it’s a way of helping us to deal with things in life. It’s good that you have a real life friend who you can talk to, though I also hope she find comfort from knowing it’s a real disorder. Thanks for commenting here!
i’m so happy that i have found this site ,non of us likes to tell its story to friends or a close family but here we could shout our feelings and stresses that this disorder brings for us…we should give our hands to gether and fight with this kind of disorder.im 27 year old and im 2 months trich free…im fighting so easy becouse i want and need my beauty back…i love my hair.. i know how pretty i will be with my new hair growing back.i wish to be free and always think about an open hair and i love to cut my hair in front like a doll…but i cant becouse im bold on the midel of my head…i feel crazy …i feel pain on my hart when i see what i did with my self…i will do every thing to bring my hair back, i whant to shout that i’m so sorry about what i did.please give me my hair back…and i always cry for that…i wish to come out of this situation.i experiensed lots of stress becouse of my hair style.pray for me.
Sou – Wow congrats on going two months without pulling!! You WILL get your hair back. It takes time but I am sure it will come. I really hope it’s growing back already! Just remember, no matter what, it doesn’t change who you are!
PENNY-THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT,I WISH YOU COULD DO IT TOO.I LOVE YOUR SITE.THANK YOU AGAIN
Sou- you will get it back for sure and I will pray for you
your hair grows one inch a month so in no time you will have beautiful hair 
ash- thank you for giving hope .i’m so happy i’m going to my third month of pull free and its amazing..i wish you could stop your pulling too.are you managing to di that ???or your still pulling???
Sou – Thank you for coming here again and sharing about your pull free journey. Very inspiring!
WOW congrats Sou!! that’s awesome I’ve been doing a lot better but still need to work on it a lil bit
I pull from time to time and one pull a week can be a set back with lashes b/c it does take 8 wks to grow them back so it’s that one pull a wk I need to work on now but it is getting better. I’ve also started taking counseling and it seems to help me with pulling b/c my nerves aren’t so bad and I’m facing my problems rather than ignoring them so we will see hopefully I will stop completely 
Thanks for creating this outstanding site! It is really tough finding good, informative sites on trichotillomania. I just started a blog on trich and have linked to your site. I hope this is ok. Thanks, again.
Solaris13 – Thanks so much! I am a little slow to reply to comments sometimes but I am glad to see another trich blog and I will add your link too
Hello, everyone.
I have tried and tried to find support groups but I have a good feeling about this one. My trich started when I was eight or nine because I was an early developer and was ashamed of my body hair and pulled it out just in case people saw it in the changing rooms. It then spread to my head and I used to have bald patches but I wore bandannas to cover them. No one ever noticed my trich but I was bullied for a lot of different reasons througout my school life and my home life hasn’t been that great either. I am 16 now and have left school- I’m relatively happy and I have some really understanding friends but the bullying has left me with more damage than i thought. I have some serious confidence issues and my hair is thinning again and the other day I noticed that my eyelashes were as well. It’s really frightening me and I don’t know what to do.
Elektra – I am glad you found it here
I am so glad you have understanding friends now, that’s really important. I am so sorry though that you’re finding the trich hard again. All I can say is that you’re obviously a very strong person. The trich doesn’t define you. Just remember that 
hello Elektra,
I can relate to you more than you know! I was 12 when I started and I also had a very hard time in school and my stepfather was very abusive so I wasn’t happy at home or school! but once I graduated and got out on my own it all stopped and everything grew back. I started pulling again 5 yrs later but only b/c I wasn’t happy again and ended up in an abusive relationship and I am now trying to stop again but I’m making progress
hope you can stop to!
Hi there; my name is Stephanie and I am 18 years old. I started pulling my hair out at the roots when I was 14, and sometimes even feel the need to chew on the ends of my hair. I sought out therapy for it last year but sadly nothing has helped. My doctor told me that trich was a form of OCD and a reaction to anxiety we might not always feel. I took luvox and xanax, but nothing helped. I have simply formed a bad habit that is hard to break. I used to have bald patches which thankfully have grown back for the most part. I just have one patch on my hairline that hasn’t grown back in nearly a year. I have to admit I am embarrassed and extremely upset about this, but I can’t seem to help it. I am just so thrilled I am not alone. This blog has been very consoling and I hope we all find a way to stop the pulling.
Steph – Sorry to hear those treatments didn’t work. I am glad that this blog has helped a little. Even if we can’t offer a magic cure at least we take a lot of the pressure off by having people to talk to and knowing we aren’t alone.
Hi everyone, I am also new to blogging. I have never done it b4 but I am hoping this will help me deal with living with Trich. I have been pulling for approx. 10 yrs. To start with it was not very bad but over time it has got progressively worse. I have periods of time when I dont pull (around 2-3 weeks) but then I relapse and before I know it the damage has been done. I am pulling my eyebrows and sometimes my eyelashes and the hair at the back of my head. I so desperately want to stop. I have recently had a baby and I am too embarrased to get my photo taken with her because I am asshamed with the way I look. It makes me sad when typing this because I dont want my daughter to grow up looking at me and thinking that I am ugly. I find it really hard to go out in public because I dont like the way I look. I tend to find I dont look at people and hang my head down in shame I guess. I have noticed I start pulling when I am home alone. I dont know whether it is nerves or bordom or both. I dont have any one to talk to. My family has rejected me because I decided not to stay in the religion they follow and I dont want to loose my friends by taking to them about my problem, they will probably think I am strange. It can be so cruel how something like Trich can have an effect on your life – well mine anyway. Sorry to poor out my heart to anyone who is reading this but it is giving me a small sense of relief.
Lani – I’m glad you found my blog
I am so sorry to hear about your struggle but I am sure your daughter will never think you’re ugly, she loves you. As for talking to your friends, I think you might be surprised at just how understanding people can be. I have only told a couple, but they did surprise me at how accepting they were. In the meantime, I think talking online to others who do it is also a great way to let your feelings out and start to heal.
thats for your comments Penny and Sou. It has helped me to know that I am not alone with this problem and there are others out there that do understand. Your positive comments are a really big help. I have actually purchased Adonia Organics Brow Revive serum which says I will see results in 21 days. I am giving anything a go these days. I will let you know if it works for me. I think just being able to talk about it has made a big difference for me as I am someone who tends to bottle up my emotions and not talk to others for fear of rejection. So thankyou for your support
lani-i was so depressed when i read your comment and i feel what you say …i am like you too but i have stoped and its 3 months that i am pull free.you can too! i think you have the ability to stop, you have a nice baby and you are not elone.you can make your self busy with your baby and i think you can get out of this situation and get your hair back, then you will get out of stress and come to your normal life i think!
well done Sou for being able to stop for 3 mths now. That is awesome! That is going to be me soon, I am determined to stop this habit.
Lani- I did the same thing when I had my son I was scared to take pics b/c of my loss of eyelashes and eyebrows and now I look at the pics they did take and I can tell I have little to no eyelashes and I hate it! I’m determined to stop this though before I have another child and before I end up getting married or something b/c I don’t want to avoid pictures anymore. I started drawing eyebrows b/c I have barely any there and I always have used eyeliner but I hate doing it all!! good luck on stopping and I wish I could tell my friends to and mainly my bf!!
ash- how are you doing??
hey Sou I replied above, I never noticed your comment here til now lol…I’m still on the same page really but it is getting better I just need to be more focused on stopping and control my impulses!
Thanks Penny- all I’m worried about is that my hair might not grow back if it gets to the extent it did before. I really love my hair which is why I don’t understand why I pull. It’s dark blonde, thick and curly and I’d do anything to keep it for as long as possible!
Elektra – I understand. I guess there are no guarantees. Thankfully, all my hair always grows back. It is thinner than it was before, but I think that’s because I’ve never stopped pulling completely. I have heard of some people creating permanent damage unfortunately. If it really doesn’t grow back (though it can take a while), then you could try a hair weave that adds fake hair to your real hair and covers up the thin spots. I think some salons specialise in hair loss and do these treatments.
That’s good- hope it doesn’t get that bad
did you see the trich programe on channel 4? It’s really nice to have some recognition
I dk what channel you mean but I would love to see something on tv about this…
hi im new here….really been struggling to stop pulling today, so wish i could stop
Carlie – I totally understand the feeling you are going through. Its like I know what I am doing when I am pulling but my brain does not stop me. I have found though when I realise I am pulling, I come back to read some of these blogs above again and that seems to make me stop. I don’t know if it is just because it is a distraction or reading others experiences makes me want to stop. Hope this helps you too.
I’ve had tric since i was 14 I am now 38. My hair has good and bad times at the moment its very bad as I have lots going on which makes my tric worse. This is really the first time I’ve acknowledged my tric as i always tell people i have alopecia. I would love to hear from others and now i’ve found this site i am going to read all the blog. x
It’s so reassuring to read about other people, especially not just teenagers, with this problem. I have, hate to even say it, pulled my eyelashes out since I was 14 and I am now 37. You would think that by now, as a mother of 3, I would have been able to overcome the problem, but as many times that I have stopped for a period of time, the problem never ceases to reoccur. In the past I have been able to stop pulling around occasions such as my wedding, job interviews, summer holidays and in preparation for going in to hospital to give birth, when hiding the problem is impossible. I so hate having to use make-up everyday and dread running out of eyeliner or forgetting my make-up bag if I’m going away for the weekend. I’d like people to know that this condition effects all sorts of people, pre-children I worked as an air hostess where image is obviously very important and as this was my dream job I was able to stop pulling. Now I have children I am in a catch 22 situation; I pull most probably because I am stressed and then I hate the fact that I find it difficult to do normal everyday things like take my children swimming, because if I wear make-up it runs when the children splash me and if I don’t I look like a freak. Now my daughter is approaching the age where she is getting into fashion and make-up and I don’t want her to notice and then do the same as me, so I need to stop the terrible habit. I am considering going to the doctors but am so ashamed. The more people who admit to it the more encouraged I feel to talk about my problem, and hopefully by admitting to the fact that I have a problem I am hopeful that I am half way there!
I don’t know if this will help anyone but I was reading one day that Trich has been found to be linked to the OCD(Obsessive compulsive disorder) and when I read that it all clicked for me! I really do believe it does have to do with that for me b/c at first you just do it from time to time and then it gets worse! you think well that was has to go b/c it is itchy or that one is to long or to thick and when people have ocd they tend to do things in fear of something bad happening if they don’t do it or they do it not noticing they are even doing it. I pull hair most of the time not even noticing what I am doing and recently I am happy to say since I’ve read the OCD thing I have been able to make myself stop pulling! I hope I can stay this way again for the rest of my life. I pull my eyebrows and my eyelashes and I do pull once in awhile but I can actually catch myself and stop it before it gets bad. My eyebrows are starting to grow in and I have more eyelashes which is amazing to me
also I found that I use to have a blanket when I was younger that was made by someone and they put little pieces of thread that would stick up in the middle of the squares and when I was younger I would play with the threads and put them under my nails and twist them then put them under my nails again(which is what I do with my eyelashes and eyebrows!) and loved the feeling and I stopped pulling b/c of that blanket! well my mom had made me a blanket like that and I decided to give it a try and ever since I brought that blanket out and play with the threads I don’t get the urge to pull which is so awesome to feel! I usually just sleep with it but at first I was bringing it out to the livingroom with me to and now I don’t feel the need to pull! I hope this helps someone and as embarrassing as it was to tell this it doesn’t bother me as much as walking around with “naked” eyes and eyebrows. I’d rather look funny sleeping with a blanket and playing witht he threads than covering up my eyes for the rest of my life. Good luck to all and I will be sure to check in again and update everyone and hopefully see updates of some things I’ve said helping someone 
Hi Ash, Your update is true about me too. I think it is cool about your blanket. My right eyelashes are almost grown in. I had another relapse with my left eyelashes a few weeks ago. The left eyelashes are slowly growing back in. I have read about trich people having OCD. I think you are onto something with your blanket. I have been making bookmarks with blockwork embroidery (16th century) to keep my hands busy the last few months. Very tedious work. When I have my hands caress the embroidery threads, I feel better. I must be crazy. I also do lace crochet too. I have been taking a break from my crocheting to do the bookmarks. I think if I play with my embroidery yarns, I can keep away from my eyelashes. Thank you Ash for being inspiring. I do not wish to pluck my eyelashes anymore. I will let you know after using my yarns instead of lashes to pluck.
forgot to hit reply but it is down there
I find the blanket really helps and having something to look forward to gives you the extra push
I hope it works for you Karen! I feel so much better bout myself it is so good to feel it again and feel a lil more confident again. I even have stopped touching my eyebrows and my hair. I ended up with all three disorders 
Hi,
As it shows, my name’s Ivy. I’m 17-years-old and I’ve been pulling for 4 and a half years–since I was 12-years-old. I pull from the top of my scalp and have developed a very thin and large area on the top of my head. I also pull my eyelashes, though I rarely do this since my mother nags me about how obvious it looks. I’ve been to many counselors in order to overcome this disorder, however none of my counselors have helped. My mother isn’t much help since she scowls me for what I do, and though she herself is a counselor as well. I can’t really remember why I started pulling. I’m pretty sure it was because of a deep depression I developed when I was 12, but I can’t remember the reason why my depression started then either!
Anyways, with this disorder inevitably comes low self-esteem and shit, do I have it bad. I hate it when people walk behind me because I fear they’ll see my hair (or lack there of) and talk about it behind my back. All I want is to be accepted by my peers, but I am far from acceptance with this monster lurking over me…
I first tried to hide my thin hair with a hat and I did so for a year, but it was weird that a /girl/ wore a hat constantly. So I switched to a headband halfway through 8th grade. I’ve been wearing a headband since (though not the original because that one as become very faded and torn apart). I wear my headband every. single. effing. day. and I know people wonder why the f*** I do.
I’ve had people come up to me and confront me about my hair. I lash out at them and become extremely angry and upset, whether it’s a classmate or even a family member. I don’t want people to bring attention to something that’s so humiliating…
I guess I continue to pull to relieve stress from school or whatever, but I think it’s more, too. It’s become uncontrollable, to the point where I believe it’s a habit. It’s an automatic thing I do without thinking.
That’s all I wanted to say. Just had to get it off my chest.
Thanks for reading.
My teacher asked me to stay after class today so he could have a word with me. He didn’t wait for everyone to leave the room to ask, “What’s up with this?” while gesturing in a circle over his hair. I was absolutely speechless. Luckily my friend stepped in and said, “It’s a headband.” I nodded in agreement, still unable to speak. My teacher asked me if everything was OK and I quickly said yes then hurried out of the room with my head down. I nearly burst into tears right there in the school hallway in front of all my classmates. But what upset me wasn’t that he asked about my problem and brought attention to it; it was the fact that he asked me something so fucking personal in front of other people.
I just want to be normal…
Ivy – you are normal, you are just like a lot of us and have this nasty “monster” taunting us that we need to overcome. You are very lucky that you have come to acknowledge this at such an early age and you are trying to fight this battle now instead of trying to ignore it like I did. I feel it is a good start to overcome this disorder by putting your story on this blog and get it off your chest, like I did. The mind is a very powerful thing, but you need to always remind yourself that you are special and you WILL overcome this monster. It will not happen overnight, it will take time like I have come to accept, but it does get better if you remain positive. I know this is easier said then done, trust me I know, I have just relapsed again today but it has been getting longer in between my urges to pull so I keep telling myself I am getting better. You can get better too.
wow… im an aspring music teacher and i cant even think how inappropriate that kind of conduct is from a teacher. what is cool is that your friend was there to step in like that. those are the type of people that we need to keep in our lives. they are the ones that see past things such as trich. i sorta wish i had a friend that new about mine. im hate that i feel like i cant even tell my best friend who ive known for 8 years.
After 24 years, I have stopped pulling (pull free two years) and I feel confident that if you are willing to change, basically everything, you can too! Please read my letter to you all, I hope it helps. http://www.bewellnsb.com/Letter%20to%20Trichsters.pdf
Hello all! I feel pretty blessed to have found this blog spot. Today, is the first day that I have done any sort of research on how to stop pulling, and here to find out, it is a diagnosed problem! I am now almost 22, and have been pulling out my hair since I was in 4th or 5th grade. I’m pretty sure it was caused by depression due to my father moving away and the stressed of hitting puberty, although I never saw a doctor or was diagnosed. I tried to get my mother to notice that something was going on and was pretty obvious about it, but she never did anything to help, nor did my family doctor, or any of my teachers in elementary school…I feel it should be a little obvious when a child so young is viciously pulling out her hair. Their would be piles of hair sitting on the tile floor beside me in class. I didn’t start pulling out hair from other locations on my body until later in Jr. High. I noticed my best friend pulling on her eye lashes, I thought i would give it a try….bad news for me
Arm hair, and my eyebrows. No hair is safe. I have been able to manage not to disfigure my self completely (i know it sounds harsh but that’s what i feel like i do to myself) in a while now, but i know i have a huge problem with pulling my hair. I do it while test taking, studying, driving, and when stresses set in. Like so many others, most of the time i don’t know that i am even doing it! Most of my close friends, including my boyfriend know that i have this issue and are very supportive. I have a friend that cuts my hair and would never criticise me for it. (I remember one occasion when it first become an issue, my mother had taken me to get my hair trimmed…the lady cutting my hair could not believe what i had done to myself and had to show all the other hair dressers…oh boy…sigh) I know that I do it, they know that i do it, can’t explain and sort of reason why i continue to do it, and it is absolutely crazy to me that it is so hard to stop!
Throughout reading all of these blogs, i have pin pointed some of the behaviors that haunt so many others here. I know i am beautiful, I am absolutely BEAUTIFUL (and so are YOU), and am told every day. Yes, i have my insecurities, don’t we all, but i don’t believe they are the reasons that i continue to pull. I am thinking that it has just been a habit for soooooo long it just happens “naturally”. I am not a smoker, nor have ever been, but with smoking, it can be related/connected to other behaviors (i.e. drinking, driving, playing cards…) If you substitute another behavior for the smoking while doing the activity you normally associate with smoking, sooner or later, that new positive activity can take the place of the smoking. That’s a little confusing, i hope you can follow, and maybe it will possibly help…For me I need to keep my hands busy while i am driving, a stress ball or anything to keep my left hand occupied. Any way, this is a new thing i am trying…maybe it will help you. Having long acrylic nails on help me as well. It is sooooo much harder to pull, plus i don’t want to hurt my new pretty nails!
But thank you everyone for their blogs, and i hope to hear so much more from all of you! I am taking a huge conscious effort to knock this thing out of the ball park. Reading all others comments and blogs, and being able to share and talk with people struggling with the same issues, I’m sure it is going to help so much! Thank you all!!!
I have just relapsed again today, I was doing so well……doh!! Back to square one. I know I can get better, my urges to pull have been getting less and less since I joined this blog. I have started biting my nails more then I just to though, but I would rather that then pulling my eyebrows.
I have had trich since i was 11 and it developed when I transferred schools and was teased horribly for being a bit pudgy. I turned to pulling to relieve my hurt, and boy did ti feel awesome. That is until my mother discovered the huge bald spots. She took me to the dermatologist who gave me rogaine and said it would go away. Well it did go away for the most part when I transferred out of that awful school and started fresh. I started playing soccer in the eighth grade and from then until about 5 months ago, it was under control. I had really thick straight hair, and then I started again. I took a job that made me really unhappy and stressed and after 6 months quit to start grad school. Now the pulling is even worse because I am stressed out about all my school work and my hair is getting noticeably thinner all over which just stresses me out more. I am going to get back into a regular exercise routine and see if it reduces the urge to pull. I believe that stress and anxiety produce chemicals in trichsters that cause us to pull. Exercise releases feel good anxiety fighting hormones that I believe really help, I just have to put in the effort to do the exercise. Its either develop alternative coping methods for stress and anxiety, or let the anxiety of being bald rule my life. I am gonna fight for another pull free decade. We can overcome this, one day at a time. P.S. It really helps to wear a scarf or hat on your head when you are alone or anytime you are most likely to pull.
Oh sorry I didn’t reveal my age, I am 26 now, so I went over a decade without a major pulling spell until about 5 months ago.
I need your help. My husband told me the other day that I need to stop what I am doing because it looks ugly and I am not setting a good example for our daughter. She is only a baby still but my husband made me feel really bad and I feel really ugly now I know that is what he is really thinking. I tryed to tell him that I am not intentionally pulling and I am trying to stop but its just not that easy. Have you got any other suggestions on what I should say to him to try to get him to understand that I need his support and not just put me down????
Hey there,
You should tell him that trich is a medical condition firstly and then you need to go to your doctors to show your husband that you are willing to accept it is a problem. Tell him you need his support but do not expect him to understand because trich is so underexposed in the media, people just don’t know how to handle the reality of it. If he is being unkind it is probably because he feels he cannot help or he has no control.
But you can do it!!
You have to find the strength inside of yourself to beat it for your sake and then for your daughters sake. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, you won’t get very far.
x
I am glad that you started this blog. I also started pulling my hair when I was ten and I am still pulling at 24. I would love to post my story because I think that it would help not only me but others with this condition.
Hey, my name is Jessica. I’m almost 17, and i’ve been struggling with Trich since 5th grade. I didn’t know there were blogs about it, so I’m pretty excited right now. Lol. I think my case of Trich is pretty severe when I hear that people only pull it sometimes. I pull my hair on my scalp ALL THE TIME and when i tweeze my eyebrows I tend to go overboard with it. When the Trich first started for me I wore thick headbands, which turned into bandanas, which turned into being afraid to leave the house at all. Kids can be really mean I’m sure we’ve all discovered. However, today I’m a junior in highschool, never cover my hair, and when someone asks me about my hair I tell them the complete truth. I have a serious boyfriend and friends who don’t judge me. Sometimes they’ll even slip up and ask if I have a hair tie or something. Ha. I actually found this blog by doing research for a project I’m doing in Psychology about Trich. Thanks for trying to raise awareness. I think thats the real challenge. Because I’ve accepted who I am and I believe everyone else with trich should too.
My eyelashes have grown back. I have been using a different technique. Each night before I go to bed, I use olive oil with q-tips to moisten my eyelids. This keeps my itchiness in my eyes so I won’t have the urge to pull or pluck.
New rules: I only look at my eyes at night and when I put on eyeliner in the morning. If I have an urge, I go to my dog and pet him and stroke him. My dog is a Bichon Frise’. His fur is very soft and curly. If the dog is not around, I stroke yarn string. This is the longest I have had my eyelashes grow out.
Keeping away from the mirror and setting up rules has kept me from pulling my eyelashes. I had a partial relapse a few weeks ago but I stopped myself before I did other plucking.
Instead of trying to go cold turkey, this is manageable. Maybe my life is less stressful, which helps.
I thought I would share because every little bit of help goes a long way.
Karen
I had a bad relapse a couple of days ago. I hate when I do it. Both eyelashes are nearly gone again. Here I go again. I could not stop myself from doing it. I just did it. I hope my eyelashes grow back.
Karen
yea, get a hobby and try sex, it works for me! really!
hmm i like that method of keeping busy!!! too bad my girlfriend lives 4 hours away. damn college relationships
i started when i was around 6-7yrs old. Now i am in my mid twenties.My parents were bullying me for no reason.
They constantly made me feel guilty for everything. Threatening, beating, stamping on me.
I was always bold and i was very inquisitive and have won many quiz contests, being good at general knowledge.They hated me for this and never allowed me to buy interesting books.
They used to beat me if i stepped out of the house. never allowed me to go out and play with friends.especially, my dad, who used to follow me wherever i go, and never gave me a single penny, though he is filthy rich. He made me travel in crowded public transport and he was a self claimed down to earth person, though he is a corrupt law enforcement officer. He is always conscious about what people think about him, and he goes out of the way to impress them.He seeks sympathy from people and tells them to advise me.
My mom who is his accomplice takes me to all the leading psychiatrists in the city telling them to change me!
The interesting thing is i never pulled my hair when i was out of my house.
hi every one its about 10 and a half month that i’m pull free but my hair is not completly back i’m so sad and depressed,what should i do???please help
Get extensions! Permanent ones… you can find places to get them done cheap…
Theres nothing that can’t be fixed cosmetically. Whether it be fake eye lashes, stick on eye brows, weaves, extensions.
I got extnesions done and they lasted like six months, enough time for my hair to grow out heaps! Its worth the money… it will improve your self esteem.
Hi guys,
Thank you all for your stories… They are very helpful and comforting. I started pulling out my eye lashes and eye brows when I was in the 3rd grade. Looking back, I see that my school situation was highly stressful at that time.. and I have ALWAYS been a high stress/perfectionist..with the tendency to get down and anxious alot.
I am certain this is part of most trichto’s personalities.
When I was in 9th grade I started to have some progress. I started to put rules on myself that gave me some room to pluck but would help me to limit the plucking. I would make sure that I would always have at least half of my lashes and brows… and I would draw on the rest.
It was progress and I could ‘fit’ in a bit better now. I was trying to phase the habit out.
Then around 16 years old I decided that I needed another ‘outlet’. I needed to redirect the tension-and-release process that I got from plucking out my eye lashes and eye brows (sometimes arm hair too)… SOO I started to pluck out my pubes… I know its gross and you dont wanna hear it, but it totally worked. It was something new and fulfilling and i just started doing that…please don’t think im crazy. If some of you are looking to phase out the habit this is a good way. stopping all together is too hard. Pulling out an area of hair that ppl dont want anyway seems a bit less weird don’t you think!
During this period about a quarter of my eye lashes and eye brows grew back and now they look relatively normal. Now I just ‘moniter’ them, allowing myself to get a bit of satisfaction from the NECESSARY plucking of wild ones (just like normal people). Occasionally I go a bit over board but the main this is TO NOT FEEL CONDEMNED! I just go wooops better luck next time..
A question? Do others in your family suffer from trich as well? I know my sister started plucking a few years after me… weird…
Do any of you suffer from back pain or neck pain? I have recently read a book that has revolutionised my life and it definitely helps with the trich.
This guy, Dr. John Sarno, has this theory that alot of bodily pain (blamed on injuries, muscular/skeletal imbalances) is caused by your sub-conscious to distract your consciousness from repressed emotions. Whether it be anger, stress, hurt etc… your brain sees repressed emotions and stress as dangerous and doesn’t want your conscious to deal with them.. so it creates a PHYSICAL distraction…
This physical distraction in my case is back pain and pulling out hairs….(he mentions OCD disorders can be apart of it)
The actual condition affecting these people (according to this doctor) is called TMS — and the trich, chronic pain etc is the DISTRACTION that the brain is creating to distract you from the real problem – repressed emotions.
He believes that anxious, perfectionists are people most likely to get TMS.
I had chronic back pain for like 3 years and trich, and since reading the book had a huge break through… the book is called ‘Healing Back Pain’.
I’m not certain it will help you with your trich but its worth a big shot!
Remember guys that you can beat it… just like any other addiction, this is winnable!
Hi All,
First of all I would like to say a big hello to everyone and remember that you are not alone in this. I too have had patience with this disorder for a good, WOW, 30 years!
I remember the moment as clear as day. I was starting grade one and that night at home I remember sitting on the couch, playing with an eyebrow that had fallen into my hand. Soon enough, I was playing with my eyebrow and then one by one I soon plucked all the eyebrows off my face. I’ll never forget my mothers look and words the following day. Let’s just say I never felt so ashamed!
My parents used to argue a lot at home and I know this was just a way for me to deal with this turmoil in my home life. It’s a terrible thing for children to see the two people they love most not have that love and respect for one another. I felt helpless and sad about it. This is how I escaped and destressed.
Later on, maybe 8 years later I stopped plucking my eyebrows and lashes, moving on to the hairs on my head. One day my dad had become so upset with my problem that he suggested, “why don’t you just pull out your hair too!” So I did.
I often wonder what if dad never said that? Would i be in the position I am today? Not being able to go out before putting on my hair pieces and going through the half our ritual everytime I step out the door. Everytime I go on holiday not being able to let my hair down at the beach, worrying that “the spot” may show, worrying constantly what I look like. This is such at issue I feel it governs my life as I constantly worry about this.
My parents never understood my problem and I had no support from them, only disappointment and the inability for them to understand why I did this to myself.
I don’t blame them, they worried about me in the only way they could, they had no past experience of this sort of thing and trich was not a disorder which was known of back then. Neadless to say, they did send me to a psychologist for a while to help me but it did not help.
Today I look at it as a gift in disguise. I am a very sensitive person. I beleive for me, this disorder has kept me from doing things in life that would otherwise have been harmful to my soul. It has also helped me to look at other people with more compassion and understanding in their problems and struggles. I thank God everyday and continue to ask for his guidance in this cross I have to bear. Some days are better than others, but right now I’m trying to do it one day at a time. God willing, I hope one day to be free of this and I wish this for all of you out there too!
Lots of best wishes,
Vicki
Thank you so Much Penny for creating this site, I stumbled accross it while doing some Trich research and found inspiring stories and found somewhere where people are going through the same thing I am. Ive had Trich for 5 years now and im finally on a stride close to 8 monthes pull free when at once I could not stop for 2 days. Dont let this Disorder Define you if you do it will overwhelm you.Im Rachel who happens to have Trich but theres so much more to me than just that, I try and look at the positive side of things and thats what Vicki tells in her last paragraph about How Trich has helped her look at people with more compassion and understanding their problems and struggles. This is all true it empowers me more to feel empathy and connect with somone more than just sympathize or even scrutinize them. We all can beat this! most importantly dont give up Hope:)
Rachel´s last [type] ..Turning OnTrich Into A More Helpful Resource For Trichsters And Family
Gosh, where to begin. I stumbled upon this site tonight from Kentucky. I found myself pulling at my eyelashes before bed this evening and when I looked in the mirror, I found half of my left lower lash line gone. Well, more eyeliner, etc. tomorrow.
I have struggled with trich for 10 years. As far as I know, it began when I found tweezers and started plucking my eyebrows. I made them super thin, but then became obsessed with keeping them this way. Junior year of high school, I began pulling at my eyebrows and eyelashes. I was made fun of, wore fake eyelashes sometimes, wore a hat to church youth group, and avoided making eye contact and conversation with people which is completely unlike myself.
Struggling with this through high school, college, and now into the beginning of my career is insanely frustrating. I have had ups and downs and in betweens, but cannot seem to kick the habit. I often wish there was a magic switch I could find and trich would never be a part of my life after. I have multiple bald spots on my head. I have thick, curly hair which I blow dry and try and make big every day so I can arrange it to cover my secret.
When my hair is covering the bald spots and my make-up can conceal the lashes, I feel good. I fool everyone with a confident front that I have no troubles. Unfortunately, I will find myself pulling mid morning and mid afternoon if I am at my desk a lot at work. During college, it was always while I was studying and sometimes during professors’ long lectures.
I have not been able to just wear my hair down in months and am afraid that I will have a couple nights in a row where I pull a lot and it will be so noticeable I will start going into a shell. This is not me. It is not my personality. FIND ME THE MAGIC SWITCH TO TURN OFF TRICH IN MY LIFE FOREVER!
Hiya Becca, I dont know if you still look at this website page but i will write my story anyway and hopefully someone can come up with a solution.
I started pulling my eyebrows when i was doing my GCSE’S at school. I would start getting really nervous up and coming to an exam and then would end up with big bald patches which then lowered my self esteem.
Since leaving school i carried on pulling my eyebrows out and they seem to soon just dissapear and i would end up with not very many, that is when i would have to start drawing them on. I felt stupid, even when people would notice and start asking questions. I got so embrassed and thought they would think i was stupid.
Im now nearly 25 yrs old and im still pulling them out aswell as pulling my eyelashes out as. I started that i’d say about 3 or 4 yrs ago. Im not proud of it, i wish i could stop.
I always have to wear eyeliner everyday, top and bottom of my lashes.
It mainly starts when im nervous, stressed and also can occur when im asleep and sometimes dont even realise that im doing it.
I knew i suffered from something but never really looked it up and i didn’t realise how many people actually suffer from it.
Its not a nice thing to suffer from, like you said Becca you will go in to a shell. It definatly not nice.
I know i haven’t really helped much but its been nice to at least talk about it because i hate people to notice and definatly dont really like talking about it because of what people will think of me…
Thank you for reading this.
Stacy
Wow, so many supportive people on here!! Well, I started pulling out my lashes around 17. I am now 25. I all started when I was in class pulling the flakes of mascara off of them. That led to me pulling put my lashes completely. I would roll the lash between my fingers and play with it. When I lost it, I would just pull another one out. Just of few years ago I started to pull out my eyebrows as well. Let’s just say that I’m an expert at drawing on brows and placing false lashes. Some people have to take a second look when they realize they’re fake..Which always embarrasses me..This disorder has took so much away from. I feel like some of my freedom is gone in a way. I can’t just get up in go when I want. I hate the way I look without make-up..If feel like i’m two different people when I don’t have my “face” one..When I have make-up on, I’m the real me…No make-up=Shy, low self-esteem, monster..I really do think I look like a monster without any on. I can’t go swimming or do anything that would uncover my big secret. My Husband knows and he is so supportive..He kindly reminds me to stop when he notices that I’m pulling. I usually do it when I’m very anxious or stressed. I also find myself pulling when I’m studying. Right now I have tiny little lashes sprouting out and I started latisse..This has given me some incentive to not pull considering the outrageous price. Plus, getting on sights like this everyday also helps for some reason. I also have been putting Vaseline on my brows and they are starting to grow out too. Im going to get some Castor oil here soon because I’ve read that it works extremely well. 2012 will be the last year for wearing false eyelashes, being consumed with guilt ,and shame.Not only do I want to be “free” again, but I also don’t want my little girls doing through the same things I have..Good luck to all of you!!
Good luck to you too and well done to your husband for doing his bit. I think a lot of people are scared when they first hear about trich if they have never experienced it first hand. By the way I am sure without your make-up you are beautiful- you just can’t see it because your emotions of feeling vulnerable take over. x
Hi Penny, found your blog while looking for any evidence of a celeb with trich but alas, none to be found anywhere!
I have seriously considered shaving my hair so many times but I don’t want that Britney Spears look either lol. I’d probably still manage to find a way of pulling even if it was that short! I also worry that my hair would be very patchy from areas where it has started not to grow back. 
I’m 23 and I’ve been pulling since I was 11. I have accepted it is a part of me that I can probably never change. I am going to read all of these comments. Even from the date of the latest post, it’s amazing to see how many people are affected by this condition but how little it is talked about in the wider media. Strength and happiness to all of you, I wish you all the best. xx