Trichotillomania

A disorder that involves recurrent, irresistible urges to pull out body hair.
The urges involve pulling out hair from the scalp, eyebrows, or other areas of the body.
Symptoms include compulsive hair pulling and hair loss, such as bald patches on the scalp. Social and work functioning may be affected.
Treatment options include counseling and medications, such as antidepressants.

 

Cluster Number:
Wiki Number: PW220
Diagnosis: Trichotillomania
US Patients: 0.6% to 4%
World Patients:
Sex Ratio: B;G10; M;F3
Age Onset: childhood or 9-13 and then continues into adulthood if there are underlying psychiatric causes
Brain Area: basal ganglia develop a habit and the frontal lobes don’t stop them; extra gray matter (interpretation)
Symptoms: Compulsive hair-pulling from scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, face, arms and legs – and rarely, elsewhere,may also eat the hair
Progression: Can result in low self-esteem and fear of socializing
Causes: hereditary, pulls triggered by anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder
Medications: clomipramine may help; naltrexone and fluoxetine, also ; some medications increase hair-pulling
Therapies: CBT- habit-reversal training, biofeedback, hypnosis; electronic hand-tracking equipment may help, support groups

Youtube Video:

Overcoming Trichotillomania: The Power of Awareness

Amazon or Library Book: The Hair Pulling “Habit” and You

Click the book to link or order from Amazon.

Support Group: bfrb.org; 831-0457-1004

(Body Focused Repetitive Disorders)

4 CURRENT ARTICLES
FROM PUBMED

The world-wide medical research
reports chosen for each diagnosis 

Clicking each title opens the
PubMed article’s summary-abstract.

  • Narrative Review of Internet-Based Self-Help Tools for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors: Recommendations for Clinical Practice
    by Emi M Murase on March 19, 2025

    INTRODUCTION: Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), such as skin-picking, hair-pulling, and nail-biting, impair quality of life (QOL). While habit reversal training (HRT) is effective, access is often limited. Internet-based self-help interventions offer an alternative, improving accessibility for patients unable to attend in-person therapy.

  • Exploring the Relationship Between Psychiatric Illness and Dermatological Disorders: A Narrative Review
    by Alan D Kaye on March 11, 2025

    The interplay between psychiatric conditions and dermatological disorders is complex and multifaceted, often resulting in significant challenges for both diagnosis and treatment. This narrative review examines associations between specific psychiatric conditions, trichotillomania, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and various dermatological disorders. The present investigation delves into pathophysiological mechanisms, clinical presentations, and...

  • Risk factors for barbering in laboratory mice
    by Anna S Ratuski on March 3, 2025

    Barbering is a common abnormal behavior in laboratory mice, where mice pluck their own fur and/or the fur or whiskers of their cage mates. Barbering mice are a concern for welfare and research quality, as well as serving as a spontaneous model of trichotillomania (a hair-pulling disorder in humans). Causes and prevention of barbering are poorly understood, although there is evidence that both biological and environmental factors play a role in its prevalence. Since initial work in this area was...

  • Genomic Analysis of Trichotillomania
    by Matthew W Halvorsen on February 20, 2025

    Trichotillomania (TTM) is a psychiatric condition in which people feel an overwhelming urge to pull out their hair, resulting in noticeable hair loss and significant distress. Twin, family and candidate gene studies suggest that TTM is at least partly genetic, but no genome-wide analyses have been completed. To fill the gap in this field, we have conducted a case-control study of genotype array data from 101 European ancestry TTM cases and 488 ancestry-matched unaffected controls. TTM cases were...