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.

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/ Beating Trich Support Group

strongerbk8's pull-free-a-thon

strongerbk8
strongerbk8
Hi guys! I joined this group in the hopes that your encouragement and support will help me conquer my battle with trich :) I've been pulling my hair out for 5-6 years. I used to have thick, long, healthy hair. People used to touch it and envy me for how it would shine. After a year or two of trich, though, I managed to destroy all of it. I wasn't one of those people who would just pull 10 hairs a day or something; when I got started, I could go on forever. Trich has been a major roller coaster ride for me. During the bad times, I had big bald spots in my hair that I couldn't hide; I had my hair shaved off three times; I wore wigs. I also went through two phases when I just could not stop cutting my hair. Pulling made me depressed and stressed; that negative emotional state of course only induced me to pull even more. The good times, during which I had my trich under control, generally only lasted 2 months or so. Currently, I have short, full hair with short bangs. Short short short. I worry that I look unattractive, unfeminine, etc. (I'm convinced I look like a sea urchin when I step out of the shower, even though my friends tell me that's just my imagination), but I'm happy to just have hair again! I haven't pulled since November 15--that's 72 days. During that period of time, my hair has grown a lot. I can feel the urges starting to crop back up on me again, though, so I'm making a thread here to stay firm with my commitment to be pull-free!
strongerbk8
strongerbk8
I checked them out--they were very informative and useful. EVERY HAIR BELONGS!

76 days!!
Phoebe13
Phoebe13
That is fantastic!!! Congratulations. Your commitment is really strong. Awareness, Barriers, Commitment. Those are my ABC's.

I have very thick, bushy hair also. It is a paradox, when you are a puller. I can easily feel like I have a bush on my head, if I don't manage it properly. All part of being scalp-obsessed.

I use 2 shampoos, which I switch out: Botanum, by Zerran, and Advanced Three, by Hair Gear, which is sulphate free. My scalp is very sensitive, and I usually end up with shampoo fatigue, non matter what I use, but these 2 have worked for me for awhile.
strongerbk8
strongerbk8
Thanks, Phoebe!! I appreciate your support :) The ABC's are not only very helpful, but very poignant-sounding and easy to remember.

I was just reading some unbelievably dense and boring article for a class and my hand kept twiddling with my hair, so I decided to take a break and visit this site to solidify my commitment and keep my hands busy for a while. I hate that even if I'm not pulling, my hands still always want to be in my hair. I hope to eventually reach a stage where I can go through the day without touching my hair at all.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Sam is very right! Good for you for taking a break from studying. I like to use Tangles, Play-Doh, and stuff like that to play with in my hand while I'm reading to keep my hands out of my hair.

And congratulations on your 76 days! You're a star.
strongerbk8
strongerbk8
Yeah, I just grabbed the little squeeze thing I got from TLC and managed to not touch my hair as much. I touched my hair a lot yesterday, though. I didn't reach the point of stroking individual hairs and tugging but I definitely had my hand in my hair more than I should have, and my scalp felt so oily afterwards. Very unpleasant.

77 days pull free! That's 11 weeks!! Woohoo!
confidenticandoit
confidenticandoit
WOOHOO indeed!!

Very exciting.

See for me the only playing with my hair consists of stroking individual hairs... I wouldn't really know how else to play with my hair! Dangerous activity.
strongerbk8
strongerbk8
Haha that's what I would normally do, but I keep telling myself not to so I end up fiddling with several strands instead of going to that next step of isolating and playing with desirable hairs. I don't trust myself to do that yet.

Andddd 78 days! Yesterday was a weirdly stressful and anxious day, but here I am, every hair intact! 100 days is looming up and I'm excited :) For now, 80 days will do. At the end of that time, I will reward myself for my good work to solidify my commitment and feel good about myself. I'm surprised and delighted by how well I've been doing! Thanks for all your support.
strongerbk8
strongerbk8
Have to read three books, one of which is a dissertation, for tomorrow--not sure how I'm going to manage that, as it's already 12:36am...anyways, just could not keep my hands away from my hair so decided to come here and post. Took a bit of a break, now going back to reading. Sooo sleepy though.
confidenticandoit
confidenticandoit
Ew that sounds foul. Bring memories of college rushing back, leaving me feeling tight in the chest and sick to the stomach!! Those late nights/all nighters are hell. Stick a beanie on if you can, or a headscarf.

STAY TOUGH! Congrats on 78 days, wooooooooo!
strongerbk8
strongerbk8
Thanks so much!! Somehow managed to get through a 200-page dissertation last night without losing a single strand of hair on my head--YES!!!!! I finished the other two books, too. Got only 4 hours of sleep, but that's still really good considering.

I love how firm my commitment has been. I've never been pull-free for more than 2 months before and I used to wonder what I did wrong. But now that I set active goals in little chunks at a time and reward myself for every time I achieve them, it makes it so much easier. I'm really proud of myself for getting through the past two weeks, when there was a lot of family-related stress going on. I'm hoping that as I continue to maintain my pull-free days, I will no longer automatically associate stressful things with pulling. Still working on the finding-hand-in-hair-when-bored-or-reading-or-not-paying-attention part.

79 days pull-free :) I'm so close to 80! Thanks for your support!
BooYah
BooYah
oh man I'm like on day 2.

I would love to get back to the double digits.

But you have to be really determined and self-disciplined.
strongerbk8
strongerbk8
I think picking yourself up after a relapse is the hardest thing to do. Once I pull, I can't stop for a while. It's as if all the work I did while being pull-free evaporates with a single tug. I pull and pull, and it takes an unbelievable amount of effort to get back on track. I'm hoping that if I fall off the wagon again, (ugh, the horror!) I won't do a tremendous amount of damage before stopping. I really admire how you've been able to pick yourself back up. The first week is really, really hard and it gets easier as you go along, as you doubtless know, so you're doing really well. Fighting hard. No shame in day 2. Day 2 deserves respect!!! :)
strongerbk8
strongerbk8
WHY is it so hard to keep my hands out of my hair when reading?! GRRR
confidenticandoit
confidenticandoit
Ugh yeah I was petrified that if I relapsed that I wouldn't be able to stop. Granted, when i did relapse it was hard, but I controlled myself not to pull much, and I got back on track. I think staying in contact with this group was essential!

Yeah reading is bad, and so is tv, because we're understimulated. It's not enough.. Playing with a stress ball can help, so can tangle toys apparently. I used to wear thin gloves, but it's annoying. A head covering is your best bet!
strongerbk8
strongerbk8
I was sort of playing with fire the last couple of days. Not only was my hand in my hair a lot, but it got to the point where I was isolating individual strands of coarse hair and running them through my fingers. Very bad--I need to stop asap. I may just start wearing bandannas around the house when I'm doing homework. I don't like that idea a whole lot because I used to have to wear them a lot when I had big bald spots I couldn't cover up, so I associate them with bad things. Oh well. Whatever it takes to keep my hair intact.

80 days pull-free today!!!!!!!!! :D