What is TRICHTILOMANIA? Causes and Treatment

Trichotillomania it is a compulsive disorder, which the person who suffers from it tends to pull their hair compulsively because they lack control of their own impulses. What they usually do is they begin to touch their hair and twist it as if they were playing with it, until there comes a point where they feel the need to start it, which over time becomes a kind of habit so ingrained that it is increasingly difficult for them leave him. The hair of people with trichotillomania tends to get thinner and thinner due to the amount of times when it is ripped off and although they may realize it, they feel unable to stop do it.

It should be mentioned that mostly, people tend to pull their hair out of their heads, however, there are other people who also continue to pluck their eyebrows, eyelashes and all those areas where hair grows, such as the beautiful pubic. In this article from Psychology-Online: what is trichotillomania: causes and treatment, we are going to explain in more detail what this disorder consists of, what it is due to and the solution.

Index

1. Trichotillomania: causes
2. Symptoms of Trichotillomania or Hair Pulling Disorder
3. Trichotillomania has a solution: psychological treatment

Why are some people obsessed with pulling out their hair and others not? It is said that approximately 4% of the population suffers from this disorder, which usually appears in childhood, early adolescence, and young adults. In rare cases it appears in adulthood and women are more likely to suffer from it than men. Some research has found that some people who are obsessed with pulling their hair have a hereditary predisposition. For example, a recent study, where two identical twins with this problem were examined, found that they clearly have a high genetic component. For this reason, the genes of those who suffer from this disorder are currently being specifically investigated.

On the other hand, it has been found that trichotillomania or the obsession with pulling out hair occurs in different situations. As it is a compulsion, it is associated with situations such as stress and anxiety. It should be mentioned that it is also associated with depression, which can end up triggering some obsessive compulsive disorder like this. The main cause why this disorder is maintained in the person who suffers it is the stress relief through the act of pulling out hair.

The main symptoms that people with trichotillomania present are the following:

• Pull out hair of the head leaving depopulated areas that may be more or less visible. Sometimes it may be that all or almost all the hairs on the head or any other area where hair grows.
• Losing control over the action of hair pulling, the person can't stop doing it even if you want to or even if others tell you.
• Feel no pain when the hair is pulled out.
• Experience a feeling of tension before of pulling out her hair.
• Feel relief after of pulling out her hair.

Treatment for this type of disorder begins with a medical exam to examine the skin, scalp and hair in order to determine if there is an infection that can also explain the loss of this.

Cognitive-behavioral techniques

Procedures that intervene in patients' cognition and behavior are effective. Study results show significant improvements in symptom presentation, causing anxiety, and mood. Some of these procedures of the cognitive behavioral therapy for trichotillomania are:

• Awareness: be aware of the situations that provoke the urge to pull your hair. Awareness offers the possibility of using techniques to avoid the problem symptom or behavior.
• The competition response: It consists of learning another behavior that replaces the one of pulling the hair.
• Social support: It involves educating and accompanying relatives and people close to the patient so that they can better help him.

It is important to work on motivation, relaxation, emotional management and relapse prevention.

Dialective Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

One of the therapies that have shown, according to some experimental studies, quite promising results, is the dialectical-behavioral therapy, developed by Marsha Linehan. This therapy is used together with the habit reversal technique as well as with other types of traditional approaches that aim to achieve control of stimuli. It is interesting since the benefits of this therapy have been found to be sustained even several months after the person has finished the treatment. The objective of DBT in this disorder is to make the person aware of the emotional triggers that make them feel the desire to pull out his hair and likewise teach him to manage all those uncomfortable emotions such as the anxiety they feel about pulling the hair hair. The components of dialectical-behavioral therapy are:

• Full attention. The mindfulness or mindfulness that has its origin in Buddhism, helps the person to focus on what really matters, which is the present moment. In this way, people begin to better accept and control their emotions without being carried away by them and acting on impulse.
• Interpersonal effectiveness. The objective of this module is for the person to learn and apply certain social skills such as problem solving with other people and assertiveness.
• Regulation of emotions. The objective of this module is for the person to learn to manage their emotions in a healthy way so that they stop acting on impulse.

Treatment should always be applied by a licensed psychologist accredited in clinical psychology to treat psychological disorders and must always be adapted to the patient's circumstances.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is Trichotillomania: Causes and Treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

• Sarmiento, T., Guillen, V., & Sánchez, J. M. (2016). The psychological treatment of trichotillomania: A case study. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Psychology, 21 (1), 57-66.
• Hernández, F. J., Calderón, D. P., & Zárate, S. H. (2010). Trichotillomania. Revista del Centro Dermatológico Pascua, 19 (1), 22-26.