Hair Pulling

Hello, my name is Carol, and I suffer from Trichotillomania.

You know people often say they are so mad or stressed they "want to pull their hair out".

Well, I don't have to be stressed or mad.  I just pull my hair out.

But it isn't all the time.  Just when my hair reaches a certain length.

Once it reaches this "magic" length, I start playing with it, and pull it out.  Usually it is just a strand at a time.  But after you do it a while, it can have consequences.

Once I get my hair cut short again, I stop.  If my hair doesn't reach that "magic" length, I don't pull out my hair.

The term for this is Trichotillomania.

I think I first noticed doing this back in college.  I think it started when I stayed up for three or four days in a row to get a project done for a Public Relations group project I was working on.

After college, it would come and go, but there are times when I would really have quite a bare patch on the crown of my head.  Ask my hairdresser.  She'll tell you.  I think she is very relieved that I get my hair cut in time now, and don't wait until the bare patch returns.

It really drives some of my family members crazy when I start playing with my hair.

But I've learned to manage it.  I am fortunate.  All I have to do is get my hair cut, and it goes away.

That is why my hair never gets very long anymore. 

I have to keep it short to keep the hair pulling at bay.