Does Childhood Trauma Cause Trichotillomania?

Does Childhood Trauma Cause Trichotillomania?

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There are many theories behind the causes of trichotillomania, and I believe that there are different causes for different people. For me, I don’t know exactly why but having a hair braid led to me fiddling with my hair a lot, which led to me pulling.

However, psychoanalytic theories suggest that trichotillomania may be a way with dealing with childhood trauma – this could be unconscious conflicts as well as factors such as sexual abuse.This is not true for me, but could be true for others.

Here is a quick overview of the theory. To read more please see the study “Child Abuse and Trichotillomania” by A. Saraswat which you can download here. I have used this article to put together this summary.

Basic Theory

  • The factors present with development of trichotillomania in childhood are similar to those of sexual abuse.
  • This can include starting at times of stress in the family, periods of separation and developmental problems.
  • The article also quotes 86% of women with trichotillomania identifying with some sort of history of violence – this can involve between siblings, parents, or abuse by parents and others.
  • It is important to remember that not everyone with trich has been abused. Childhood trauma may include moving homes, moving schools, parents splitting up, bullying and so on.

Your Thoughts

As I have said, my experience does not show obvious childhood trauma, though I do wonder as to whether there are unconscious conflicts as mentioned above.

Do you believe that your hair pulling is caused by childhood trauma? What else may it have been caused by?

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4 Responses to “Does Childhood Trauma Cause Trichotillomania?”

  1. Kat 25. Nov, 2008 at 2:15 am #

    Hmmm… my son was doing this as soon as his hands were coordinated enough to pull hair… so I’m not sure what kind of trauma there could have been.

  2. Danielle 07. Dec, 2008 at 8:43 am #

    I’m not sure I completely agree with this, but from what I have read from other people’s experiences- a lot of them seem to trace it back to some sort of trauma…

    I started a few weeks after my father committed suicide…I don’t know why I started, but like I said, I read that most trichsters seem to trace their problem back to some sort of trauma or high stress situ ation they experienced at a young age…maybe there is something to this?

  3. mspennylane 07. Dec, 2008 at 5:33 pm #

    Kat – I think that in many cases it isn’t down to childhood trauma. Even though I started pulling at around 10 I don’t think it was down to childhood trauma for you either. Good luck to you and your son!

    Danielle – I am so sorry to hear about your father. It is quite possible that may have caused your pulling, it is so hard to tell though. I guess it differs for everyone, and even though these theories are interesting I do not believe we can all be labelled in the same way. Thanks so much for visiting and sharing your thoughts.

  4. Procerin Reviews 10. Mar, 2009 at 7:06 am #

    I think this due to childhood trauma only. Some kids can sustain the trauma while others may not do that and become victims to this disease.

    -Mini

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