Trichotillomania Essay

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The purpose of this paper is to define trichotillomania in terms of its symptoms, demographics, etiology and causes, as well as the treatment options for those affected. According to Lewin et. al (2009), trichotillomania is an obsessive compulsive disorder characterized by repetitive pulling of one’s own hair for non-cosmetic purposes, resulting in alopecia. Dia (2008) found that lifetime prevalence rates are about 0.6 percent, and this percentage increases during the lifetime to 3.4 percent in women and 1.5 percent in men (Christenson, Pyle & Mitchell, 1991 cited in Dia). Individuals who are affected with this disorder are secretive about it. With that said, people with trichotillomania do not want to say that they do have this illness because it could potentially ruin a person’s social life by the distress of constantly twirling or pulling out the hair. Many individuals actually try and cover up a bald spot that they are insecure about. Considering a human’s life span, one cannot assume that all cases of hair pulling are considered as a psychosocial disorder. At a young age, children mainly pull automatically out of curiosity, which Woods (2013) described as “maintained by the sensory consequences of the behavior and …show more content…
The noticeable symptom is a person actually pulling their hair so much that eventually a bald spot is created and they feel a sense of relief or pleasure when pulling the hair (Chamberlain, Menzies, Sahakian, & Fineberg 2007). That is because the individual was most likely triggered to pull out their hair. Which would be considered as focused pulling because focused pulling “involves pulling that is done intentionally, often to decrease an unpleasant urge to pull or a negative emotional experience” (Woods 2013). There are five categories that can trigger pulling: environmental, motoric, sensory, affective, and cognitive (Stemberger, R.M.T., Stein, D.J., & Mansueto, C.S. 2013 cited in Dia

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