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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My name's Penny, and I started OnTrich (a trichotillomania blog) to try and raise awareness about hair pulling, and also as a way to help me deal with my own pulling. I'm a 23 year old girl from the UK and I've been pulling for 13 years. Get in touch if you want to chat or need any help - I love meeting people here.
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.
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?
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.
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