Trichotilomania disorder is characterized by pulling out it’s own hair.It’s common in older children.It’s a habit while reading, writing, going to sleep and it usually stops spontaneously. Changes are usually situated in front parietal and front temporal region. The treatment is domain of psychologist and psychiatrist.
It is categorized as impulse-control disorder as gambling, piromans,cleptomania. Child has a problem controlling its impulses.Person feels strong need to pull out its own hair in order feel relief of tension and feeling pleasure.The problem becomes bigger when the hair is pulled out because the fear of loosing control and fear appears.
Trichotillomania
The person feels eagerly and occupied with its thoughts. Some persons have the habit to play with the hair after pulling it out. Some of them bite of the hair root,some swallow the whole hair.
More about trichotillomania can be found here.
Trichotilofagia
Sometimes because swallow hair ends in stomach, surgical intervention is neccessary. Some persons spend hours searching “the right hair” to pull out, others have the favorite region of certain body part (bear,eyelashes) for puling hair out. Any body part covered with hair can be target: legs, public area, chest hair.
People can spend few minutes, few hours or whole day on pulling hair activity. In attention of preventing this habits people can wear gloves, cut their hair, cut finger nails to excessive but without success. Disorder usually appears when child is 12 or 13 years old. But it can also appear in younger or older persons. Trichotilomania is usually caused by some stresses situation-abuse by parent, death or illness of parent. But the most of them do not remember any stress event in their past.
Trihotilofagia
Sometimes symptoms dissappear after solving problem – relationship with parents. Sometimes the problem was iron deficiency. After resolving iron deficiency problem would disappear. The disorder can also be combined with depression, then it’s resolved with drugs that increase level of serotonin. In some people disorder is combined with obsessive need of counting thins, excessively checking things (for example – are doors locked,with excessive tidyness..)
It can be also categorized as possessive compulsive disorder. Consequences can be very serious-attend of suicide, depression, low self confidence, problems with friends. Some of them avoid sexual relationship in fears of revealing their secret. Many of them look weird – weaving hats, artificial eyelashes and eyebrows.
THERAPY- behavior therapy, supportive therapy, medicaments-anti depressives.
