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Trichotillomania (TTM) patients may have a strong impulse to pluck off their own hair. Pulling your hair out frequently over time might cause bald spots and further emotional distress.
They frequently lack impulse control despite knowing that it can cause harm. When under stress, individuals can pluck out their hair in an effort to calm themselves.
When it occurs during your adolescence, teen years, and adult years, it frequently has serious negative impacts on your mental health and well-being.
What is Trichotillomania?
Trichotillomania is an impulse control disorder. Individuals with these disorders are aware of the potential harm they can cause if they act on their impulses, yet they are unable to do so. When under stress, individuals can pluck out their hair in an effort to calm themselves.
Some people also consume the hair they remove. Trichophagia is the name given to this illness. The digestive system may lead to serious issues. During puberty, trichotillomania seems to affect both boys and females equally. Adult females are nevertheless more likely than adult males to report the condition.
Onychophagia (nail biting) and skin picking disorder are two conditions that frequently co-occur with this disorder. Some indications that you may also include pulling hair from dolls or blanket fibers.
Many people make an effort to downplay their condition, and some even try to cover up their hair loss by using hats, scarves, and fake eyelashes and eyebrows.
Trichotillomania Causes
There are no known causes of TTM, despite the fact that doctors believe a number of potential causes could result in this syndrome. The following are a few of the possible causes:
1) Genetics
TTM may result from specific Genetic mutations. This has to be confirmed by additional studies. The SLITRK1 gene may be one of many that interact with other genes and the environment to cause trichotillomania and other psychiatric disorders.
2) Changes to the chemical structure of the brain
Individuals with TTM frequently experience changes to specific brain regions or variations in their brain chemistry. Several brain areas involved in affected modulation, motor behavior, and cognition have increased gray matter density in some studies that used neuroimaging in patients.
Other studies look at the unpleasant reinforcements people experience when they pull; when emotional regulation is examined, those with this disorder struggle more than those without the disorder.
3) Coping strategy
Many individuals with TTM claim that their condition began after a trying period in their lives. Others claim that it began as a boredom-related behavior that eventually turned into a habit.
Trichotillomania Complications
Trichotillomania can have a profoundly detrimental effect on your life, despite the fact that it might not seem particularly serious. Possible complications include:
1) Emotional turbulence
Many trichotillomania sufferers claim to experience shame, humiliation, and embarrassment. Because of their condition, they may struggle with low self-esteem, sadness, anxiety, and drug or alcohol abuse.
2) Issues with social and professional functioning
Your embarrassment over hair loss could force you to shy away from social situations and career chances.
Trichotillomaniacs may use artificial eyelashes, wear wigs, or style their hair to cover bald spots. Some people can shy away from intimacy out of concern that their illness will be found out.
3) Harm to the skin and hair
Frequent hair pulling can permanently alter hair development and result in scars, infections, and other harm to the skin on the scalp or the place where the hair is pulled.
4) Hairballs
Trichobezoars, or big, matted hairballs, can form in the digestive tract as a result of eating your hair. Hairballs can result in years of weight loss, nausea, intestinal obstruction, and even death.
Trichotillomania Diagnosis & Treatment
TTM is a reasonably simple disorder to diagnose, however those who have it tend to conceal it out of embarrassment or shame. It is diagnosed through a physical examination during which your doctor searches for outward indications of the illness. They will also inquire about your medical history, current situation, and anything else that might be related to a health issue.
It is frequently treated with therapy, medication, or a mix of the two. According to ongoing research, several drugs for other mental health issues may also benefit TTM, but more research is required before any particular drug is included in conventional medical care. TTM is frequently difficult to cure with medication alone. Healthcare professionals may combine drugs, therapeutic methods, or both.
Trichotillomania is a chronic condition. Without medical intervention, symptoms may become more severe over time. For instance, menstruation's hormonal changes can make symptoms worse in women. If untreated, some people's symptoms may come and go for weeks, months, or even years at a time. Rarely does hair tugging stop after a few years.
Speak to your doctor if you find it difficult to quit plucking out your hair or if you feel humiliated or embarrassed by how you look as a result. Trichotillomania is a mental health condition, not merely a poor habit, and it is unlikely to get better on its own without therapy.
Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.
