oh my goodness, i am so sorry you are going through that. i dont even know what to say. it doesnt help being around people that are so immature that they would laugh and tease about true mental disorders. are you sure they know about you having it? or do you think you are so self concious about it that you assume everyone knows? it may not be as obvious as you think unless you have current bald patches. my only advice is that people like that, who have no empathy are just not worth it. dont even waste your energy caring what they think. people like that can drain what little self esteem most of us have left in a matter of minutes. ha. i havent checked your profile, high school or college? from my limited life experiences, ha, it does get easier with time. as people you associate yourself with start to mature, these type of things become less frequent. im sure they will find something else to be immature about in the next few days and this will pass. good luck and hang in there. it will get better.

Can you go to the teacher in private and talk to s/he about how the class was handled? Not tell that you have it, unless you trust them enough. Tell them that you know someone that does (childhood friend, Great Aunt) Just that you were offended that in this day and age that mental illness's are still laughed at. That the %'s show that mental illness's effect more and more families.

See if the teacher will find some facts about other mental illness's. And quote the #'s. S/he needs to tell the class it was wrong to laugh about the Trich. If this teacher won't right it, go over thier head and report them to the head of the school.

wow. iknow exactly how you feel.
im taking modeling classes, and one day when they were talking about hair, the instructor was just saying casual stuff like dont twirl your hair, because you will damage it, and then all of a sudden she was like and DONT PULL YOUR HAIR. the whole class started laughing and saying "why would anyonee do that!?" and even though i dont pull from my scalp, it still made me feel really embarrassed about my lashes.

ok, i TOTALLY agree with crzychick! that was great advice and i totally think you should do it. ha!

Thanks for the replies!!! Lovemy2 idk if they know for shur it is just a self conshious thing but i do it THE ENTIER SCHOOL DAY!!! O and highschool... And crazy chick the teacher knew befor we even started this unit because we were doing a health tree and i asked her if i had to put it down and she said no but we do go over it and she didnt say anything to the class when they were all makeing fun of it... i just wish i didnt have to deal with it at school to... I get bad enough at home!!! My parents SCREAM at me anytime they see me do it... Which makes it worse... but thank you two!!!
-Ashley-

See i am a scalp puller and i do eat the ends and i do it the whole time so it is alot more notacable(wow i cant spell)... But i ve only had about 3 people ask me about it this year but that was easer then this is because i dont know if they know or not...

Since the teacher already knew then I would def. report him/her!! That is very unprofessional!! Esp. if you put down your other issues. The teacher should know that the laughter could have set you off in a very bad way.

I am seething now. Am half tempted for you to message me the # to your school and I will call them!!

OMG!!!

Just caught myself rubbing my brows..ughhhh.

I'm serious tomorrow morning march straight into the main office and report this stupid teacher. If nothing is done go to the county, if that's how it's done in your state. This is unacceptable.

Who knows how many other children (sorry but I'm 45 and you are 17 and in HS, lol) this has or will be done to if this person is not stopped now.

Who knows how many other kids in that class that were laughing that have their own problems that are just praying that their's will not come up. Laughing to cover the pain???

hey - a little late, but i know how you feel. i'm a nursing student and I am doing my mental health rotation right now. I feel like my professor knows something is up and maybe may classmates do too but then I realize that everyone has their own hidden problems that we probably don't know about. i would feel really crappy if it were me too. i would def say something to that teacher about how you were upset about how it was handled especially since they know about your condition. if they blow you off go to a principal or something like that. take your parents with you if you need. good luck.

Thankyou... But i really dont want to cause a fuss... Its one of those things that i want the least amount of people to know... I think im just so upset that i have 6 out of the 22 mentel illnesses that they were talking about... I feel so diffrent, weird, and freak like... Just to watch the rest of the classes reactions when disscusing these problemes really hurt... I guess i didnt know that what someone can live with everyday can geak someone else out so easly... I just needed to vent a bit... Thanks you guys
-Ashley-

Hi Ashley, your classmates are clueless, heartless, idiots who do not understand anything about humanity and life in general. I'm sorry you had to deal with their reactions. It's very common for people who do not understand trich to react with humor and it's just not appropriate. Also, whether your peers realize it or not they probably have 6+ 'illnesses', too. They are probably silent about it/undiagnosed/or will develop them later in life.

Also, I just want to add that I pull from my scalp and bite the ends. I receive similar reactions from my family (laughing, 'gross', etc) so I wouldn't expect anything better from a bunch of teenagers. You be the strong one, and do the mature thing. Hopefully they will grow up soon enough. So sorry!

were your friends discussted and laghing about it to?

All I have to say is that anyone who laughs at the problems others have is a complete jerk and is probably very childish. Everyone has theirs problems and they don't need to point out other's issues to help ignore their own.