A Worthwhile Cause
Filed under: Inspiration
CLICK HERE to read up on and donate to a very worthwhile cause!
"The Trichotillomania Learning Center is a nationally-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life of children, adolescents and adults with trichotillomania and related body-focused repetitive behaviors such as skin picking. TLC works to raise awareness of these disorders, promote research and treatment advances, and to provide information and support to sufferers and their families."
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my mum thinks i have this, because i pull my hair out constantly. i think it's just a bad habit :/
To medicallyfucked, I thought it was a bad habit too, but that's what nail biters and skin pickers think also. It's worth a try to get t looked at. There is a check list of 'signs' for trich, that a dermatologist can use to determine if it is a bad habit or truly trich.
Re: shetalksagoodtalk – yeah maybe :/ i mean i started doing about 4 years ago. i managed to stop for about 8 or 9 months and my hair started to grow back, but this past year i found i haven't been avle to stop myself. the more i think about it, the more i do it. i just don't want to end up with no hair.
my bestfriends sister has it.
she pulled out all her hair and has the scabs to prove it.
Thank you thank you thank you Perez for bringing Trich to the forefront on a blog that so many people read. I've had this since I was 14 and no one likes to talk about it for fear of ostricism. Your publicity will help in getting the word out!
saw a reference to this disorder last night on "my life on the d-list" - they said Kathy Griffins tour manager has it….
I had it, and I am now medicated as if I have OCD. The problems are all but gone. Since it's an OCD spectrum disorder, it definitely needs addressing. A person with this hasn't got a bad habit, it's faulty brain wiring.
Thanks, Perez!! I can't believe this actually worked!! I am so excited to have TLC featured on this website!! Hair pullers unite! Check out trich.org for more info!
Love,
Christina
This is AMAZING! I have had trich for most of my life and it was the most humiliating thing I have ever had to deal with. Teenaged kids don't understand that its not something that you can control and can be so cruel. Thankfully, I have grown out of it for the most part. Even though I still do it, its not nearly as bad as it used to be.
My 12yr old son has this too. He picks out his eyelashes and eyebrowls and gets angry when I try to discuss it with him. On this website, under alternative treatments they talk about success using the B vitamin (inositol). I am definately going to try this as I know how this condition embarasses my son…esp at school.
Re: SparklingVanilla –
I used to get angry any time my mom would try to talk to me about it as well. Its such an embarassing conversation to have. And I know that it never seemed like ANYONE understood fully how it made me feel. I hope that you find something that works for your son!
i've had trichotillomania since i was 10 or 11 yrs old, and i'm 35 now. i suffered in silence every day for over 20 years, thinking i was the only one in the world who did this. i found out that not only does my disorder have a name, but an estimated 2-4% of the world population has some form of this disorder too! if you have trichotillomania ("trich", for short), please know you are not alone. support groups exist world-wide, and together we can encourage and lift each other up.
My son's girlfriend has this. She has no eyelashes and bald spots on her head.
We just found out she is pregnant with our first grandchild. I fear she will pull the babies hair out, is this possible??????
Re: stickytaffy –
you do not need to worry about the baby. people who have trichotillomania pull their own hair out, not other people's. it would be like someone who bites their nails wanting to bite off other people's nails. sort of. well, that's the closest comparison i can come up with. you need not worry. and, please know that your son's girlfriend is not a weirdo. millions and millions of people have the same faulty brain-wiring that causes us to pull out our hair.
Re: stickytaffy –
Doubt it, stickytaffy. I've never heard of anyone pulling someone else's hair out. Usually hair pullers are more interested in their own.
Re: tzeiner –
She is a wonderful person and going to make a wonderful mother. Thanks for the info. Now I feel better. And less like an idiot.
Re: stickytaffy – trich sufferers enjoy the feeling of hair pulling, and pulling another person's hair could never satisfy that urge
i've been pulling for 4 years now, and just last week got a hair piece attached to cover the areas with shorter hair. So far it's been a GREAT success. I haven't gone a day without pulling in about 3 years, and now i haven't pulled in 4 days. Check out hrc4hair.com. THANK YOU SO MUCH PEREZ for drawing attention to the fact that people with trich aren't freaks
Whoooo Hoooo! Major Props to Perez for advertising this Cause on His Website! I am a 35 year old female who has suffered from this disorder since I was 1 yrs old. My parents had no Idea what was wrong with me and it was unfortunutly that I suffered a very abusive childhood. Back in the 70's & 80's they really had no idea what this was. I pulled my hair out constantly and my parents were very embarassed to take me anywhere. It was until about 2000 that I realized this disorder had a name. For so many years I grew up ashamed and thought I was a freak. TLC…Is a fabulous cause, one that I have dedicated to bring awareness to all who suffer from this disorder. If you have trich, you are not alone. Do not be ashamed.
My little girl has been picking her scabs for 3 years now. She is 12 and suffers horribly because of it. As a mom I have tried everything. But this summer she is going to a 5 week clinic for OCD disorders. I pray it will help. She is an ice skater and feels so bad as she can never wear the beautifull dresses the other girls wear. She ends up wearing long sleeved dresses which are not as pretty and of course this makes her feel bad. We just can't find any pretty long sleeved dresses. She crys all the time and is so unhappy. I pray everynight for this to go away. Thank you Perez for bringing this site to our attention. I dind't know about it. Maybe I can find some good stuff for her on it so she does't feel so alone. She is a beautiful girl and deserves to feel better about herself. Also www.skinpick.com helped us too.
Awesome! Thanks you so much for posting this!
TLC changes lives, and has helped so much in my ongoing recovery from Trichotillomania. I know just this little post will help so many people become educated about trich. Thank you again!
It took me more than twenty years to figure out that I have trich. I didn't even notice until I caught my then four-year-old daughter pulling her hair out. When I put her in counseling, her therapist asked me basic questions and helped me realize this is something I've been silently suffering from for as long as I can remember. We both pull out our hair and pick our scabs, and I'm trying to break this habit, so that I can set a good example for her. Maybe I can help "cure" her of this before her body is covered in hideous scars like mine. Thanks, Perez, for bring this disorder to your site.
thanks so much for putting this up people would never know about this if it wasn't for you.
Perez, I have been a longtime reader and this is the first time I've ever commented. THANK YOU for uploading this! I've had trich since I was an adolescent. It's a humiliating problem to deal with, especially because a lot of people have never heard of it. TLC is a great organization. It really helped my parents understand my illness. So many people read your blog, and I really appreciate you posting this!
Re: tzeiner – Similar to you, I started pulling my hair out in my early teens and I'm 34 now. I only found out earlier this year about this condition and simply knowing it wasn't just me being a freak was a huge relief and has actually enabled me to tell others about it without feeling completely embarrassed.
I am 48 years old and have had this since I was a teenager. I have been to many doctors, dermatologists and psycologists and no one ever diagnosed me or was able to help me with the compulsive hair pulling, face picking and nail biting. I can't believe that it took Perez to lead me to answers for this after so many years of self abuse, embarassment and frustration! It seems so obvious now and makes me wonder about all these so-called professionals! Love you Perez!
Hey Perez…thank you so, so, so much. I've had SISP for years– self-injurious skin picking, which is (they think) very closely tied to trich. I have often thought how sad it is that people don't know more about this. We suffer so much– it's so hard to be compelled to do something you don't understand and can't control. There are lots of us on sites that are specific to the illness, but to see it featured on something so mainstream is really very encouraging. Maybe someday it will be viewed with as much understanding as we've come to feel about eating disorders and drug addictions. Thanks again- it means the world.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for posting this!! I have struggled with this condition since I was a child. Discovering my local support group has really helped me to gain control over my trich. It is torture for me to watch people suffer with this in silence. The public needs to know that this is a very distressing problem for millions around the world… and there is help available, and plenty of ways to work toward becoming pull-free. I am a thousand times better now than I was in high school… and it's all due to the people affiliated with TLC.
Thank you for posting this! Such a boost for the trich community and TLC. I've been a hairpuller since 1990. Check out www.cybermane.com for some great solutions for hairpullers. Charlene, the salon owner, is an expert on hair pieces for trich clients.
Wow, I didn't know anyone was trying to do research on this or help people with trich. I thought nobody cared. This is great news!
I'm 29 years old and only found out last year that this was the name of the nervous habit I've had my whole life. It made me feel so much better to know that I'm not the only one with this problem, it's totally compulsive and I have no control over it. I started carrying a worrystone in my pocket to counter it and help myself pay more attention to my problem.
Wow Perez!!!! How great of you to mention TLC. I have suffered from "trich" for 40 years. It is a little known condition that needs more study. Thanks for bringing it to the forefront with your readers!!!! I LUV PEREZ!!!
I've just started semi-compulsive hair-pulling a few months ago, and there is already a small yet noticeable bald spot on my head… that's so much Perez for bringing this issue to the forefront of my mind rather than having it stay on the back=burner.
I've been dealing with this for 15 years. for FIFTEEN YEARS I haven't been able to stop yanking hair out of my head! I'm glad to see that there are so many others out there with the same struggle! It's caused me lots of pain and embarassment over the years. My hair dressers are always baffled when they go to cut my hair…
Also be aware that there are trichophages out there who EAT the hair they pull.
I was surprised to see you high-light a disorder that I have not only had since I was a child, but, something no one dares talk about. We have our good days, and our bad days, and this makes today a good one.
Yip I have trich too