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Hair pulling -- or, more broadly, mild self harm? maybe like nail biting?

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littleoc

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I saw one other thread kind this one:

Literally pulling out my hair

It was due to high stress in my case, and was diagnosed as Trichotillomania.

I still have this problem. As I recently stated it my trauma diary:

I don't have such a hair-pulling problem that I have bald spots anymore. I haven't had bald spots since 3rd or 4th grade. More than 12 years ago. (At this point I've spent most of my life as a child, so bare with me... lol.)

But I do still pull out my hair. There seem to be some triggers. High stress, for one. Included scalp picking (never bad enough to matter). Then... I think just being in a dirty place. A dirty house. Having oily hair or hair that's tangled. (Messing with it -- which is a habit -- makes hair more tangly, more frizzy, and more oily, all of which are triggers.)

Also, when I'm feeling restless or am trying to conceptrate. I even have a "study hat" I frequently wear when studying. Otherwise my hair and resulting mess will be everywhere -- also, it's so difficult to study when one of my hands is messing with my hair and scalp. It's like I can't stop until I get the weird-feeling hair (the one with kinks or a tiny knot or a frayed bit). I'll go through my hair with my fingertips gently, pulling at hairs until one is wrong, and then I pull it out. It's so satisfying...

Even just now, I wasn't able to brush teeth because I was playing with my hairs, individually, and couldn't stop yet becuse I'd found one with a kink-filled texture.

I've gotten better about eyelashes, because I'm trying to keep fingers out of my eyes to prevent making the itching and burning worse. Mold allergy, I think -- or maybe bird.

I have no idea why this has been so consistent. It started in elementary school when a lice epidemic hit. I started pulling out my hair, looking for lice or their eggs... no idea why, because I wasn't even concerned about bugs. They didn't gross me out. They meant I didn't have to be at school.

I stopped cutting. I haven't hit my head on anything in a while (trauma reinactment). Both were replaced with over-exercising and an addiction to moving. Now, I'm being much more careful.

And with so little bad-coping to focus on, I guess I should figure out this hair-pulling thing.

I imagine this isn't particularly common, but I think more broadly speaking it may match some mild self harm methods?

I'm wondering what others with PTSD (or whatever) think, and if you have any advice from your experiences.

Thank you for reading :)
 
I pull out my beard hairs that feel slightly longer than the others..it can get obsessive and leave patches, I also pick and bite my nails and fingers 'till they often bleed. I always feel bad if I catch myself doing it as however mild, it is definitely self-harm - but least I have a name for it now!
 
I attacked anything that looked or felt like a little pimple or a zit.

I could spend hours doing it, making a complete mess in the process.

Recognising it as a mild self harming behaviour has helped me resist doing it.

Long sleeved shirts and hiding any mirrors also helped remove temptation.

If it's head hair that you are pulling...

Have you thought about an ultra ultra short haircut? ( natalie portman shaved head at DuckDuckGo )

Not having anything there to pull at for a few months, weakens the habit a bit, making it easier to break if / when you grow your hair again.
 
Have you thought about an ultra ultra short haircut?

I have thought about it, but I really, really like my hair and I'd not like it so much if it was short. It would make me pretty uncomfortable.

Still, maybe there's a way I could work with that. Without cutting it. Hmmm.
 
Thank you all so far!

It's nice having a name for it, and knowing that I'm not alone in this :)
 
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