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.