THE ESSENTIAL
- Patients with trichotillomania usually do not pull their hair out in public.
- Some hide the holes generated by their mental disorder with wigs.
If tearing out a few white or split ends hair from time to time is often harmless, it evolves in some people towards a real disease: trichotillomania.
Listed as a mental illness in the DSM5, trichotillomania consists of repetitively and obsessively pulling out one’s hair, eyebrows or body hair. Some patients do it with their fingers, others with tweezers, sometimes looking at themselves in the mirror.
fluctuating symptoms
“Trichotillomania is usually chronic, with fluctuating symptoms if left untreated. The sites of trichotillomania can thus change over time,” says the MSD. “A range of rituals can also accompany hair pulling. Patients can for example meticulously search for a particular type of hair to be removed, try to ensure it is pulled in a particular way, roll it between their fingers , pass them between their teeth, bite them or swallow them”, explain the experts.
This disorder generally sets in just before or after puberty, and mainly affects the female sex. It is usually triggered by negative emotions or sensations such as itching, pain, depression, boredom or anxiety, and may be partly genetic in origin.
Shame
While some patients may unconsciously pull their hair out, others may be ashamed of their appearance or their inability to control their behavior, which has a strong impact on their quality of life.
No drug treatment exists today to help the sick, even if the amino acid called N-acetylcisteine has recently given good results in a clinical trial. In contrast, cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT), which teach people with trichotillomania to replace hair pulling with other actions, may work.