Note – This will be my last post here for a while. It is almost Christmas and then I am going away for the first two weeks of January. There may be some scheduled posts, but if not I will be back in the middle of Janurary!

Since Christmas is fast approaching I was wondering if this season can make trichotillomania worse or better. For me I do not think either is true, but I can imagine why it could.

For example, if I was very relaxed aroun Christmas – kept busy as well as being happy – then I would imagine my hair pulling would slow down so much, perhaps even stop naturally for a few days without me even trying. But if it was very stressful, or if I found myself alone and with time on my hands then I would probably pull a lot more. Of course this could be said about any time of the year. This is just me, though.

Can the season affect trichotillomania?

Even if not true for me, I believe the seasons can affect trichotillomania. I did a little research online and couldn’t find much information on the subject. However, I did think of a few things.

• Seasonal Affective Disorder is common when there is a lack of natural light in the winter. This makes people suffer from ‘winter blues’ making them suffer from symptoms such as a lack of energy, sleeping too much or too little and craving certain foods (such as sweets). It seems to me like all of this would affect trichotillomania and the urge to pull – for the worse.
• Christmas can also be a stressful time, even if it is still enjoyable. If I am busy I tend to pull less, but if I am busy to the point of stress and a feeling of lack of control over the time I have to complete things then I would certainly pull more. This can also be made a lot worse by families coming together, clashing or just the general need to please people.

This post is really just a collection of my ideas since I couldn’t really find much concrete evidence on the subject. And since it is almost Christmas it was on my mind!

I will say now to everyone -

HAPPY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I will see you all again here in the middle of January after my holiday

How does Christmas affect you? Are you more stressed? Does it make you pull more or less? If you are reading this after Christmas day then I hope everything went smoothly!