Community Profile

Trichotillomania is a term coined by a French dermatologist in 1889 to describe the compulsive or irresistible urge he saw in patients to pluck out their hair. The word trichotillomania is derived from the Greek thrix, hair; tillein, to pull; and mania, madness or frenzy. This name is somewhat of a misnomer in that people with trichotillomania are not "mad", "psychotic" or "crazy" as the name suggests. In psychiatry, trichotillomania is classified as an impulse control disorder as are conditions such as compulsive gambling, kleptomania (compulsive stealing) and pyromania (compulsive fire setting).

Impulse control disorders are characterized by the inability to control or resist the temptation (or impulse) to do something harmful to oneself or someone else. A sufferer sometimes experiences a sense of increasing tension before performing the behavior and can feel a sense of relief or release of tension afterwards. Sometimes people even express a degree of pleasure after having performed the act.

Features of trichotillomania that fit the description of an impulse control disorder include the inability to resist urges to pull out one's hair, mounting tension before pulling and feeling of relief afterward.


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DSM-IV Definition

More formally, the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) defines trichotillomania as:

Recurrent pulling out of one's hair resulting in noticeable hair loss.
An increasing sense of tension immediately before pulling out the hair or when attempting to resist the behavior.
Pleasure, gratification, or relief when pulling out the hair.
The disturbance is not better accounted for by another mental disorder and is not due to a general medical condition (e.g., a dermatological condition).
The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
Not all patients who pull out their hair meet these strict criteria. Nonetheless, they frequently have a distressing problem that might very well benefit from treatment.


Excerpt from:

Trichotillomania: A Guide, 1994 (http://www.trich.org/v1/whatis.htm)

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This is a supportive community for those of us living with trichotillomania. Feel free to share your experiences, treatments, etc. And do make an introductory post; we like to know who the members are! Just keep a couple of things in mind, please --

-Absolutely no community promotions.
-Any "Ohmigod yer all faking it" or "You can stop pulling if you really TRY" posts will be deleted immediately. Repeat offenders will be banned.
-Please harness your cre-8-ive spelling urges when posting here. I and many other people can't understand a damn word of it. This community is not a giant text message.
-It seems obvious, but keep posting ON TOPIC.

Moderator: feevert (Please read the FAQs about communities before contacting the moderator on LJ how-to.)

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