Imagine you are sitting on the couch watching your favorite TV show or a movie you have been dying to see for a while with warm buttery popcorn on your lap, and the remote in hand ready to push play. The show has you heavily engaged and fully entertained all the way till then end, but something else has your attention, the relentless sensation to pull your hair out from the roots one by one or in chunks which leaves a pile of hair next to your lap. Sound scary? This is what sufferers of trichotillomania face on nearly a daily basis. “Trichotillomania (trik-o-til-o-MAY-nee-uh) is a disorder that involves recurrent, irresistible urges to pull out hair from your scalp, eyebrows or other areas of your body, despite trying to stop” (Mayo Clinic
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“Because children can acquire a short-term habit of hair pulling that closely resembles trichotillomania, establishing the diagnosis commonly requires several visits” (Trichotillomania Differential Diagnoses, 2016). With children and adults alike, saving the plucked hair may be a common practice which can be substantiated by keeping a collection in a bag to provide to the physician. Some sufferers may consume the hair making it hard to see how much is being pulled. The authors of Trichotillomania Differential Diagnoses believe that before concluding a trichotillomania diagnosis, several other issues must be considered and ruled out which include, but are not limited to, the …show more content…
Trichotillomania has been officially classified as an “impulse control disorder”, but some patients have also been known to develop secondary symptoms associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) (Mental Health America, 2016). Researchers have developed a method which has proven beneficial in order to gain a better understanding of Psychiatric Neurotransmitters and their function during abnormal brain activity for OCD patients utilizing a PET. Researchers scanned the brain activity of a specific study group consisting of persons with OCD symptoms and those without obvious signs of OCD, which is believed to be an underlying contributor to trichotillomania. Researchers selected a test group consisting of persons with symptoms of OCD and of persons with no obvious symptoms of OCD. They performed the first scan on the test group while in a relaxed state to observe brain activity. A second scan was then performed on the test group with induced anxiety. The study revealed that within the group with no obvious OCD symptoms, once anxiety is induced the striatum (subcortical part of the forebrain and a critical component of the reward system, Wikipedia) is activated. Within the group with OCD symptoms the striatum was not activated which is consistent with striatal
“Because children can acquire a short-term habit of hair pulling that closely resembles trichotillomania, establishing the diagnosis commonly requires several visits” (Trichotillomania Differential Diagnoses, 2016). With children and adults alike, saving the plucked hair may be a common practice which can be substantiated by keeping a collection in a bag to provide to the physician. Some sufferers may consume the hair making it hard to see how much is being pulled. The authors of Trichotillomania Differential Diagnoses believe that before concluding a trichotillomania diagnosis, several other issues must be considered and ruled out which include, but are not limited to, the …show more content…
Trichotillomania has been officially classified as an “impulse control disorder”, but some patients have also been known to develop secondary symptoms associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) (Mental Health America, 2016). Researchers have developed a method which has proven beneficial in order to gain a better understanding of Psychiatric Neurotransmitters and their function during abnormal brain activity for OCD patients utilizing a PET. Researchers scanned the brain activity of a specific study group consisting of persons with OCD symptoms and those without obvious signs of OCD, which is believed to be an underlying contributor to trichotillomania. Researchers selected a test group consisting of persons with symptoms of OCD and of persons with no obvious symptoms of OCD. They performed the first scan on the test group while in a relaxed state to observe brain activity. A second scan was then performed on the test group with induced anxiety. The study revealed that within the group with no obvious OCD symptoms, once anxiety is induced the striatum (subcortical part of the forebrain and a critical component of the reward system, Wikipedia) is activated. Within the group with OCD symptoms the striatum was not activated which is consistent with striatal