Olivia Munn Blames Paparazzi Pics With Ex Chris Pine For Her Trichotillomania

Olivia Munn is opening up about her mental health struggles.

The Newsroom alum appeared on Monday’s episode of the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, where she dished on her experience with trichotillomania — a condition which “involves frequent, repeated and irresistible urges to pull out hair from your scalp, eyebrows or other areas of your body,” according to the Mayo Clinic. Her version? Pulling out her eyelashes! Ouch!

According to Olivia, the condition first presented some time between 2009 and 2010… when she was dating Chris Pine. She specifically remembers being photographed with the Star Trek star:

“So there was a paparazzi shot of he and I, and it was the first time I was in the tabloids.”

She recalled attending a small event and asked the wardrobe department on The Daily Show for the “ugliest dress” they could find to try and drum up some attention:

“They found this blue old prom dress with big pom poms on the side. And I was like, ‘Oh, wonder if I can make it into the worst best dressed list?’ Then I did! I couldn’t believe it worked. The fact that I was like, they know who I am to even put me on this list. It was very exciting.”

Around the same time, she once left Chris’ apartment at a high in his career and stumbled upon a wave of paparazzi:

“I had left Chris’ apartment — hopefully I don’t think he’d mind me telling this story. There were paparazzi outside his house because he had been in Star Trek and all this … I was carrying this small wallet-clutch and they caught photos of me.”

The X-Men: Apocalypse star continued:

“When it got out, one of my friends was like, ‘Hey, you’re dating Chris Pine?’ And then I did the horrible thing, which was to read the comments. And this is back in the day so at the time you don’t know that it’s bad. And they were like, ‘I think she set this up. Who’s carrying a clutch during the day?’”

And with reading critical comment after critical comment, she began pulling at her hair:

“That began my trichotillomania. That was the very beginning.”

She went on to share her experience with the psychological condition, which is linked with OCD:

“There’s a sensation. It’s probably not even real, but I’ll feel like, ‘Oh, this eyelash feels like it’s gonna come out,’ even though it’s not. And then when you pull it, there is a quick second of pain. Then there’s a satisfaction and then immediate regret.”

You can hear her talk more about it (below):

This isn’t the first time Olivia has spoken out about her OCD. The actress, who now shares two kids with John Mulaney, revealed to Self in 2014:

“OCD comes from a place of needing to feel safe. I had it growing up, having had a little bit of a tumultuous upbringing, moving around a lot with a mixed family with five kids. When I got on TV and had to open myself up to the world, some of that anxiety came back up.”

She added at the time: