Trichotillomania: 8 years on by Mitchell, 20, Australia
I’m Mitchell, I’m an Aussie and I met Charlene and found out about her cause through Facebook. My trichotillomania started when I was 12/13, my family was ripped apart by my father’s actions (but that’s another story). I began pulling at school one day, in one particularly bad English class. At first it was something which excited me, having a bald patch on the back of my head, but it started to scare me at the same time. It became more compulsive and habitual as time went on. My mum wasn’t sure why I started, but since I was already seeing a psychologist, it became just another issue to deal with. I learnt what the disease was called when I was put into a psychological health unit for severe depression and anxiety.
The most obvious solution to hide my actions was shaving my head, i did this with electric clippers and a razor blade to remove as much of the hair as possible. This worked twofold – it hid the bald patches, and the hair wasn’t there for me to pull out. The buzz cut became a staple of my life (my hair rarely grows longer than a few centimetres before I shave it all off). Of course, since I was pulling the hair out roots and all, when my hair began to grow back, the bald patches didn’t cover. This caused me problems at school and work. School was worse, being amongst a group of idiots who didn’t understand anything beyond their own perfect world, being asked whether you’d stuck your head under a lawn mower or whether you had cancer cause I never had any hair. Work was alright because I wore a hat (I was working at McDonalds at 13), but it was something that I was conscious about, meaning that I usually wore a hat or hooded jacket when in public.
Over the years, my trichotillomania is something that I’ve come to live with. Especially during the periods of deep depression and anxiety, I pulled my hair instead of turning to self-harm, so in a way it has been a saving grace. I’ve been in more control of my trich as I’ve gotten older, but still find myself losing my eyebrows if things start getting too stressful. I’ve accepted that it is something which is a part of me, I’m not ashamed of it or ashamed to tell people that I suffer from it.
The advice that I’d give to anyone who is suffering from Trich or who is living with someone who has it, is to be patient. Help is available to you and your family, and you are certainly not alone. And I congratulate everyone who has spoken up with their story and supported Charlene in her cause.
Add comment April 10th, 2009
