You are brave to tell your roommate. None of my friends know and I will never tell them. Too embarrassed. My family members don't understand why I pulled, and one of them is a hairdresser. They wonder why I didn't just stop. I only told my husband and daughter at my trich a few years ago and my son doesn't know. My husband and daughter don't know how bad my pulling was up until just 3 weeks ago. (pull free three weeks today) I cover up how bad my hair really looks by using dermmatch to cover thin/bald areas. I wear a hat or bandana.(told my husband I had a treatment on my scalp to help my hair grow, which was true some of the time, thus I wore the bandana to bed) I just started going without my bandana or hat at home a few days ago and wear a hat at work) I have cut my hair a number of times, so short that it looks shaved. It is extremely short right now cos I cut it about 6 weeks ago. I then went and trimmed it some more last night, cos there are still some very thin or bald spots that need to grow in more evenly. My husband and daughter hate it when I cut my hair and my husband gets really mad about it. He has told me I don't know how many times "Don't cut your hair any more ! ""and I say " there were thin spots and I am trying to get it to grow in evenly", but he does not understand why I would do that.
You have to BELIEVE in yourself, firstly, to be able to quit pulling, and use positive self talk. Instead of saying I HOPE I can quit pulling, correct yourself and say "I WILL stop pulling ".
You WILL make it ... BELIEVE it ! You will find so much support here from those who understand like nobody else can. Keep coming here daily, especially at times when you feel the urge to pull. We are here for you !

drttm..If you are going to use determination..You are not going to make it..Trich loves determination and it will beat you every time..Has anyone on this forum learned that lesson?You cannot beat trich by fighting it..I'm trich free for 30 years..Trich is beatable..But not with determination..Willpower does not work..Everybody with trich knows this.That why it's...I didn't pull for a week..A month ect..You can shove your hands up your ass to distract yourself..Fact is when you take them down..Even with the crap on your hands..It's because you stopped your hands doing what they want..REINFORCES the urge to PULL YOUR HAIR OUT..

I agree with Sir Peter. I look at trich as addictive behaviour - starts out as a reaction to stress /anxiety / trauma / depression etc. It soon becomes an addictive compulsion that we feel is impossible to stop when we are in the pulling mode, even though we know we need to stop and that it is self destructive. My husband is in AA and in AA they say that will power does not stop the drinking. It is turning your life over to the care of a Higher Power, whether it be God or the AA program itself, or a God of your own understanding - a power greater than yourself, that is one of the major contibutors to those in AA getting and staying sober. I also think that you need to believe in not only a power greater than yourself but you need to believe in YOURSELF as well, and change your thinking from positive to negative. Also, just like in AA , sharing the message to others, sharing your sobriety, and going to meetings ( and for us trichsters it would be sharing your experiences and your victories over trich, and / or struggles), and attending our "meetings", as in our "group therapy" here at this forum that helps us in our desire to become "sober" or Pull Free in our case. There are some programs that have been started up for those with trich, depression, etc that use the 12 steps of AA in their recovery.

so true , cos i have been there before , i once stopped for about 6 months and i thought i'm done and was very happy with that , but all of the sudden i just returned pulling
this time i have positive feelings , right now i'm looking for a psychiatrist to help me getting through this ( i hope to find one as there are only very few of them where i live ( btw i'm Arabian living in Jordan , psycho therapy isn't really acceptable here , as many other parts >>> as most people think that seeing one means u r CRAZY and unnecessary if you are not )
i decided to take this step as i believe it's for my own good , not caring about what the others would think if they ever found out

Sir Peter. What stopped you from pulling?