POSTED BY: mspennylane
The first time trichsters find out that trichotillomania is a real condition that they share with millions of others can be a defining moment for them.
I can’t remember how old I was when I found out. I started pulling when I was 9 and I would say I probably found out around the age of 15. I picked up one of those magazines that comes free with the paper, and there was a ‘real life’ story of a girl who had trich in there. It had pictures of stages of the condition, and she had a hair weave to cover her thinning hair and to help her stop. One thing that stuck in my mind was that the magazine said it was ‘as common as nail-biting’.
I felt so angry: why had people been telling me off for doing it, and thought I was weird at school with my bald patch. Most of all, why did I never know this before?!
Despite this I never really spoke to my parents about it. I mentioned to my mum once that it was as common as nail-biting, but that was only a brief conversation and I never mentioned it again. I have told two others about it: my boyfriend and a friend. I would love to tell everyone in a way, but not at the moment.
The real help I found was in knowing what it was, joining forums and reading others experiences. It still took a while, though, to come to terms with. For a long time I didn’t like to read things about it as it made me feel very uncomfortable to think I had any sort of ‘condition’, and it was easier to put it to the back of my mind. But I recently made the conscious decision to act on it, and I have come to terms with it.
I will be posting full details of my background with trich soon. If you are dealing with trich or know about it, please get in touch!
