Beating Trich Community Group
You mean that there is a name for IT? Im not weird? Trichotillomania, that big, long word that is the bane of our world. With knowledge and support of others we CAN break free and live without this disorder interfering with our lives. Lets keep this uplifting and supportive and give each other the encouragement the other needs to make it to that next day.
Hi all,
I've been pulling my eyebrows and eyelashes out since I was 11 or 12, and I'm 21 now...so quite a long time! I've had "good periods" where I've pulled much less and have managed to have full, healthy eyebrows and lashes. However, my pulling has gotten significantly worse in the last 6 months -- be it from the stresses of school and work, family/friend/significant other relationships, etc. I now have large bald patches on my both my eyebrows and eyelashes and it's getting harder to "just stop". I find myself falling into more binge-like states; I used to find one hair that "just felt right", pulled it out, and went about my day. Now, I find one hair...and then another...and then another.
As for treatments, I've tried almost everything: meditation, yoga, exercise (which does help me with stress relief), band-aids on fingers, sitting on hands, snapping a hair band on my wrist when I feel an urge, playing with tangle toys, etc. I have yet to find THE thing that helps. Maybe because THE thing is...me? :)
I'm hoping that by starting to document my experience with trich on this forum, I'll be able to get better with the support of all of you. I'm really new to DailyStrength and I've been amazed at how kind you all are to one another. I feel lucky to have found a group of people who are sharing my struggle!
So I hope that you all can help me and that, in turn, my story can help some of you. Knowing first-hand how hard it is dealing with trich, I can only imagine the highs and lows that you have all been through. I'm ready to fight this disorder and regain my self-control, self-confidence, and sense of peace. Here we go.
P :)
I've been pulling my eyebrows and eyelashes out since I was 11 or 12, and I'm 21 now...so quite a long time! I've had "good periods" where I've pulled much less and have managed to have full, healthy eyebrows and lashes. However, my pulling has gotten significantly worse in the last 6 months -- be it from the stresses of school and work, family/friend/significant other relationships, etc. I now have large bald patches on my both my eyebrows and eyelashes and it's getting harder to "just stop". I find myself falling into more binge-like states; I used to find one hair that "just felt right", pulled it out, and went about my day. Now, I find one hair...and then another...and then another.
As for treatments, I've tried almost everything: meditation, yoga, exercise (which does help me with stress relief), band-aids on fingers, sitting on hands, snapping a hair band on my wrist when I feel an urge, playing with tangle toys, etc. I have yet to find THE thing that helps. Maybe because THE thing is...me? :)
I'm hoping that by starting to document my experience with trich on this forum, I'll be able to get better with the support of all of you. I'm really new to DailyStrength and I've been amazed at how kind you all are to one another. I feel lucky to have found a group of people who are sharing my struggle!
So I hope that you all can help me and that, in turn, my story can help some of you. Knowing first-hand how hard it is dealing with trich, I can only imagine the highs and lows that you have all been through. I'm ready to fight this disorder and regain my self-control, self-confidence, and sense of peace. Here we go.
P :)
Hope to hear from you soon and see how you're doing!
I'm 2 days pull-free now, and I feel like it happened without me even knowing! I didn't feel too many urges because I've been really busy, but I also think I was able to go a few days without pulling because I didn't put so much pressure on myself to NOT pull. I just lived my life and if the urges came, I dealt with them. So I'm going to try and keep it up!!
I hope you are all doing well :)
I've been absent from DailyStrength for a couple days now because school has been kicking into high gear and I've been incredibly stressed. And to make matters worse, I've been pulling. A lot. It's been horrible. I have entirely new growth (new baby lashes, yay!) on my left eye, but on my right I've pulled off...well, pretty much everything. I hate how used to having bald lashes I'm getting. I'm trying to be patient and positive, but it can definitely get tough. I just don't want to get to the place where I've pulled so much that my hairs stop growing...that won't happen to me just yet, right? Is anyone else concerned about that?
I just started pulling out my lashes about 6 months ago intensively, so I'm hoping that they're still healthy enough to keep going. Any words of support would be much appreciated! Hope you are all doing well.
Stress is a big trigger for pulling. Find something to do with your hands, and try to stay busy, when feeling stressed and you feel the urge to pull. Or come on the forum here and type away in your online journal here, or here at the Beating Trich section. We are here for you. Just venting is good for you to let off some steam. Also exercise, music, talking to a friend, anything that helps release stress is good.
I hope you are all well. How is your journey going?