Trichotillomania, does anyone know someone with it?

Question

I have a daughter that is 11. she has trichotillomania, and has had since she was 1. i am needing to know wat other mothers do for their kids that pull their hair? it is very frusterating having a daughter with bald spots all over her head. we have tried gloves, hats, changing the diet, but nothing works. she only does it at night, but here lately it is getting worse. i would like to know if anyone out there has found a way to comtrol it with out the dr perscribing meds. any suggestions appriciated

she is doing this in her sleep. so she really doesnt know she is doing it. when she was younger i put her to bed with a fuzzy lion. she puled its hair instead of her own until the lion got so tore up that there was nothing left of it. and never showed intrest in another stuffed animal again. so then we went to a fuzzy blanket. same result, when it was just down to nothing she would not use another one. she is also a thumb sucker and i cannot get that to stop either. she pulls her hair and rubbs it under her nose while sucking her thumb. there is an appliance that the dentist can put in he mouth that willstop the thumb sucking but i dont have 500 extra dollars just laying around.

Answer 1

I too have it. I am 19 years old. I started around the time that I was 3 or so. My mom had my grandmother sew socks to all my pajamas when i was younger because I too did it at night. As I got older, that wasn't an option. If anything, this is what I did when I was age 11-12. I bought a mop from the dollar store and took the bottom part off. I just twirled on that. Now I have been pull free for a year, but still there is the occasional twirling here and there during the day. But let your daughter know that she is not alone. Oh and go to this website below. Good Luck :D

http://www.trich.org

Answer 2

Please contact a specialist. I have been pulling my eyelashes out since I was 11 and my parents chose to ignore it. I am 31 now and I have pretty much gotten accustomed to not having any eyelashes. Growing up and being in high school was the worst. You know how mean kids are now a days. I've tried to stop on my own. It might last a month or two but back to pulling I go. Im at the point now that I really dont give a hoot about my pulling. Its only my eyelashes and I can buy fake ones. Everyone knows I pull and my true friends are not bothered by it. The trich.org site is a great site to find resources about the condition. However I would like to stop and know that you are not alone. I have two toddlers, they dont pull, but I am afraid they might one day, even though I dont pull in front of them. I do feel your pain and she is still young, best to nip it in the bud before it festers into other problems.

Answer 3

I once saw a woman on tv with the same disorder. They used surgical glue to adhere a hair piece to the top of her head. It took care of 2 problems at the same time - covered the bald spots and prevented her getting to the hair under it. It didn't actually cure her, but it didn't make her more aware of when she was doing it and she eventually did it a lot less.

I sure hope this helps. I really feel for her.

Oh, one more thing, I've heard of teaching kids a new habit to replace the old one. Like when she pulls at her hair, make her do something else that is less harmful and eventually she will reach for the less harmful thing when she gets the triggers that cause her to pull her hair out. Maybe teach her to tap a finger lightly or to twirl her hair instead of pulling or something that won't disturb other kids in class or anything.

Answer 4

I had never heard of this disorder before.. So it might be she needs something to hold on to, like a stuffed animal etc to redirect her attention it might reduce temptation. I'm not sure, but this sounds like OCD. My other suggestion is to try to teach her a type of self-hypnosis. It really can help a lot because it retrains your mind. There are several good tapes and Cd's available by real doctors. They are not subliminal, and it will allow her to come up with things to do instead of pulling her hair. I hope this helps.

Answer 5

My daughter has it. She began to do this when she was 12 years old. She is now 31 and if she does not take an anti-anxiety drug to control it, she pulls huge bald places on her head. Your daughter has an anxiety disorder. She will need help as it will get really bad including having axiety attacks as well as pulling her hair out. Therapy greatly helps also.

Answer 6

im 16 and ive had it since i was 5. It is extremely difficult to rid yourself of this obsession. Pills DO NOT help this condition so dont waste money on them. What helped me stop for a few months was concentrating on something elses when i realized i was pulling. Like playing guitar,crochet,play with rubberbands, and while she is at home have her wair her hair in a ponytail and in a beanie maybe.If you have any other questions feel free to ask:)
Good luck to you and your daughter.

Answer 7

it's an anxiety disorder and needs meds. it will never stop without meds but once it stops, the meds might be able to top too. meds aren't as bad as you think. not zombie meds for chrissake.

Answer 8

I dont know how to stop it, but i feel her pain, ive had it since i was 6, and im 27 now.
ill pray for her though,. i dont know how else to help