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?
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
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.
Started pulling at the age of 12… My father was an alcoholic and my mother required that her emotional needs be met by me – to support her, be there for her and finally to talk on her behalf to my father (later a great skill in my “chosen” vocation, i.e. law). Ever since I can remember, I was always swearing at my father, being very critical of his drinking problem and at the age of 5 I stopped talking to him altogether. From the ages of 5 to 12 the whole family lived under the same roof, but I had no (or minimal) contact with my father – I called him “it” and used the fact that he could not understand my mother”s ‘mother tongue’ to exclude him from all commmunications in which he was present. For the first 12 years of my life, my father was -in my mind- an absolute monster; capable of everything and anything. As a reuslt, right before turning 12 (ie before my entry to adolesence) I started pulling. It was only 4 years ago, when I started psychoanalytic psychotherapy to try and resolve my overall emotional conflicts, that I gradually started making positive steps towards understanding and resolving my hair pulling issue.
when i was 4 i was molested….7 brutally raped by my little brothers father….10 i was molested by my moms new fiance… my mother is a skitsofrantic and abusive…..I’ve been homeless still homeless and my life is nothing but struggles…and i pull my eyelashes i never realized it was a disorder till i had the erg to look it up….so i think it dose have relation to sexual abuse but i don’t think that the only leading cause i believe there maybe more to like stress and the fact that it is a compulsion….I’ve tried for years to stop but its practically impossible…I’m still questioning what i should do to stop this irresistible unknowing erg….
My 9 yo stepdaughter has been pulling her hair for the last month (that we know of). We were married three months ago. Per my husband, she has always been a “picker”– pulling eyelashes and at scabs– but has now moved onto hair. So I don’t think this new on-set is directly caused by our new marriage and new living situation (move to a new house, 2 new step siblings for a total of 4 kids in the house), but I do think the stress of this situation could be aggravating her impulse to do this. I don’t think there is any abuse in her history, but she did have the trauma of her parents divorcing at a young age, her mother re-marrying and having another child and now our new wedding. I’m not so much concerned as to what caused it as to how best to help her deal with this. We’ve been told not to call her out on it when we see her doing it and that this is her issue to deal with (they’ve given her some techniques to use). That is SO HARD to watch and not do anything! We love her dearly and want to help her. Any advice from those having gone through this situation as to how you would have wanted parents, stepparents, etc. to respond to your situation???
We love her so much and are very worried about her. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
I just recently had read an article about this mental disorder that some individuals are totally aware of and some are not. If you will based it on the research that I had read there is a high risk or potential that a child may develop trichotillomania due to the anxiety which they could not express well just because they were too young to think of better ways to express their thoughts and maybe afraid as well that they might get rejected by their families. A person who does have it needs a psychiatrist and as well as an extended understanding to be able to make them feel that they had our support and at least lessen what they feel. This will help them unload what they feel and with proper treatments they can possibly survive with this rare mental condition.
Cheska´s last [type] ..procerin reviews
I almost exclusively pull out my pubic hair but started with my eyelashes before I had any. I was sexually abused since I can remember. When my father stopped abusing me I started pulling, I was 11. I think I do it because of what happened to me.
Childhood trauma had may disadvantage especially when they getting older because it never erases in their minds what is happening during the abuse. Parents should watch out for their kids welfare in order to avoid this kind of psychological problems that affect the minds of an individual.
Deana´s last [type] ..tea bags on eyes
i started pulling out my hair since i was 10, and i think it was due to the abandonment of my mom and the physical and verbal abuse of my stepfather. i think i did it to calm myself, like how some people bite their nails or chew of their sleeves you know?
My grandmother used to drowned my pet cats as punishment. She would also hit my shins with a sorting stick and the bony parts of my forearms, threaten suicide if I ever told her no. She once crushed a baby sparrow I wished to keep as a pet because it had fallen out of its nest and was too young to live on its own. I was around 7. She squeezed it in her hands and I heard its bones crack and it made chirping noises before it died. I grew up on a farm. Raised by my grandparents, isolated from other children. Not allowed to go to other houses. My grandfather played no part in this. But he did choose to look the other way. I was never spanked. Just hit on my bony parts with hard objects. We raised Quarter Horses for income, and I had my own mare, which she would lock away and refuse to not let me feed for days at at a time. I started drinking at an early age. Ran away often. But I would always come back in fear of losing my beloved Sable. I having been pulling and eating since. Life is a horrible thing. And there is little beauty left in it. 30 years old, childless…sad, hopeless. Dead inside. I enjoyed watching her die slowly in the hospital. My moment of happiness. She was, and is, Hell itself.
Definitely! There’s a tendency that the young ones will develop this kind of disorder is at high risk. This gives an important notice to the public and specially concerns the parents to brace their children as possible as they can to prevent and protect the young minds.
Alexie´s last [type] ..emu oil for stretch marks
My stepdaughter is 5, and she has completely pulled out her eyebrows, and now her eyelashes. It is VERY noticeable being that she has dark brown hair.
Her mother has not been around for about a year, and when she was, she wasnt a good mother at all. I dont think she knows how to be one.
I’m pretty sure this is why she is pulling her hair out, BUT i dont know how to stop it.
We are looking in to a counselor but I’d also like to know what to do at home.
We keep telling her, “why do you do that? we love your eyebrows! if you stop pulling them, they can grow back! Just remember when you put your hand up, you gotta put it back down and say oops, i forgot!”….i mean, i dont know what else. Its not like we can say you look weird honey, but i dont know what to do!