Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling) Support Group

i just joined too! my experience with trich is relatively new, i started about 2 or 3 years ago, i dont really remember exactly when. but im still pulling and still trying to stop it. this is my first time trying to get help for it. good luck to you! i would love to hear your story!

I just wanted to say hi to both of you. I have been pulling for as long as I can remember, and I have finally been able to recently tell my Mom and my Husband, and it was such a relief! Now if I can just get my anxiety under control and stop pulling it would be wonderful. Hope to chat with you more.

Carrie

Thank you both.. It's really nice to communicate with people that relate to this issue. Carrie, I admire your courage to tell your mom and husband.. My family is aware of my problem and they think it has been delt with when I first got treatment.. But now with this recent (I would say Major) relapse, I can not bear to share it,, so I selected therapy again.. I am grateful to have an understanding mother who continues to push me to get treatement although we don't talk about it clearly..

It has been a bad year that started with heartbreak of breaking off my engagement and then losing my dad few months back following a brief period of illness.. I have lost the ability to "live" normally and enjoy the things I used to do.. I somehow blamed myself for everything and stared enjoying "trech" again.. I sometimes ask if I am normal, maybe because I can not quite get my need to do and enjoy it..

It really is soooo nice to know that I am not the only one. The embarrassment is unbelievable at times. I pull my eyebrows and lashes, so I am constantly "fixing" my face. I always think about the future, and if my daughter will want to go to water parks, or when we go on vacation.... And not wanting to get my head wet in case my eyebrows wear off. I don't want my life to be affected forever... And I have been doing it so long that I don't remember a time when I didn't. I have had "better" periods where it wasn't so bad, but to say I have been free of "trich" ever in my life is not a reality. I have been dealing with it forever.

It is definitely a constant struggle, and so frustrating to be pulling, wanting to stop, not being able to stop, and then feeling sick to my stomach when the episode has ended and I look in the mirror. Most people wake up in the morning and the first thing they do is pee... LOL, in my case, the first thing I do is "fix" my eyebrows, then pee. ;-)

I am hoping that the Celexa I have started taking might help my anxiety slightly, and it does help that my husband and Mom know, but unfortunately like most of us, they just can't relate. How silly it must sound to them when I tell them that I just CAN'T stop, no matter how hard I want to. I know it will get better, and I may talk to my doctor about getting behavior therapy or whatever else I might need. I just know that I can't keep doing this, and living inside myself.

I am so glad I got to meet you gals, and it really feels good to know that there are other "normal" every day people walking around dealing with their inner issues that nobody understands.

I also understand the loss you have had, and how much it affects you. I also went through a very rough time with my husband (threat of divorce and all) and he finally realized that he too has issues from having an alcoholic father all of his life that still tries to control him. He has begun seeing a psychiatrist and was prescribed Ritalin for his ADHD which was making him so angry and mean to me. I spent the last year of my life thinking I was the problem, that he was angry at me because I am a stay at home Mom and not making money.... I was just trying to figure out in my head what I was doing wrong that made him so mad every day. Also a relief to know that it wasn't me, but not a relief that it caused me to pull more and more, and my anxiety is so high now from all the stress that I just have a harder time every day. And we all know, the more you try to stop, the more you want to pull! Vicious circle.

Thanks so much for all of your understanding and kind words and I am sure we will talk again soon!