It is estimated that 4% of the world population suffers from trichotillomania, an impulse control disorder in which a person has an uncontrollable desire to pull out his own body hair, because it gives him a sensation of relief or pleasure.

It usually begins in childhood or early adolescence, and occurs primarily in children, adolescents and young adults, with rare cases in adulthood. As the director of the University Clinic of Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid Cristina Larroy has reported, it has been observed cases in children since the age of three, although the age range in which the disorder usually begins is from 9 to 13 years of age.

There are no perfectly identified biological, genetic, behavioral, or psychological causes: “It just seems to be a disorder in which the person feels relief when starts doing that kind of behavior, so it can be a random issue. One day you start tearing your hair; that gives you pleasure or relief, and you tend to repeat that behavior,” Larroy explains.

What situations can trigger trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania occurs in very varied situations. Occasionally, the onset of the habit is associated with situations of distraction, relaxation, or boredom; other times it is used to relieve tension in times of nervousness or to improve concentration.

According to the expert, trichotillomania is a disorder that usually occurs more in women than in men. Sometimes it is associated with depression and can end up degenerating into obsessive compulsive disorders, which are also more typical in women than in men.

It is a behavioral chain: “The patient grabs a strand of hair, twists it and after a while there are one or two hairs, which are the ones that are pulled out,” reports Larroy.

The treatment

Trichotillomania is a behavior that is not performed consciously, and this is one of the most important points challenging the treatment. “Our job as psychologists is to make that person realize that he is grasping the hair strand, because that is when he can stop that behavior chain,” says Cristina Larroy.

The most effective of all treatments is psychological, and only in severe cases in adults could be combined with antidepressants, according to this expert.

“Parents usually go first to the dermatologist thinking that baldness can be the result of dermatitis or any other skin disorder. It’s hard for people who suffer from it to ask for help; and if it is psychological [help], much more,” says Larroy.

Monitoring the psychological treatment in children is complex, and is usually done by parents and teachers.

To do this, they should observe how the behavioral chain is given and put alternative behaviors: “For example, if the child is clutching a strand of hair, parents can start clapping and taking off the child’s hands off their hair,” advises this psychologist.

Although this disorder can become chronic in the most severe cases, the chances of recovery and not relapsing are quite high. Cristina Larroy recommends addressing this impulsive behavior from the very first moment in which the parents or the person who suffers from it detects it.

 

Source: Agencia ID