Do You Cut Your Hair When Stressed/triggered?

[Me232]

I do this all the time. But I just thought it was because I am a hairdresser. Even the other hairdresser's I work with would comment on how often I change my hair.(that's when you know you have a problem) :)

 

[Anthy]

I usually go as short as I can go without razor bumps. I am transgender, so I usually write it off as dysphoria rearing its ugly head in. But the urges come whenever I am particularly stressed out or feeling negative about my self-image.

I find my short hair very comforting because I become my own comfort object. My hair is soft like a stuffed animal, and rubbing it releases oxytocin as well as just making myself feel cute and cuddly because of the texture.

It's funny -- I get my words mixed up frequently, so I might say to someone, "Yeah, I think I'm going to shave my head off this weekend!" Oops!

 

[Dolphin Boy]

I came here to see if there was a name for this disorder. Whenever I get really stressed (every 2 or three years) I get an overwhelming urge to shave ALL of the hair off my body (I'm a relatively hairy man). So far only eyebrows have been left alone. There has to be a name for this, but its nice to know that I'm not the only one. To be fair, I've never been diagnosed with PTSD, but it is suspected because of the kind of jobs that I have had.

 

[shimmerz]

^^^^

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15627101

And yes. I used to have long hair. I have been cutting it consistently to 'remake' or 'clean' myself ever since.

 

[MegMegMeg]

The notion of a short haircut had never occurred to me before, but a few weeks after I was raped the urge to cut my hair pushed me into the salon. I didn't care what the haircut looked like as long as it was short.

The drastic transformation alarmed friends and family, even those who didn't have knowledge of the assault.

 

[Tinyflame]

Changes in body weight etc all that stuff are apparently common post.

 

[Nevermore]

My god! I never realised there were other people who do this!
I do cut my own hair when stressed or triggered - no hairdresser for me.
I've done it so often now that I'm actually a pretty good hair cutter, but it's such an odd thing to do. I don't know why it gives me relief but it does.
I'm kinda happy to know I'm not the only one who does this as I've actually always thought it's a strange form of stress relief.
thanks for posting this!!

 

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

Yeah I think for me it's a control thing when I'm really not feeling good at least I have control over my hair. As well because I don't physically harm my self anymore it's more it's like self harm than empowerment for me. I don't deserve to look nice so I'll shave all my hair off. I try not to do things like that on a whim anymore. I find if I can give myself a couple of days to think about it it passes.

 

[LeanneN17TL]

Hun you are not the only one I only realised now this is what I've been doing. Every three years I grow my hair long and healthy. Some times add extensions but when stressed go hair dressers spontaneously get it cut then maintain the style. I'm pretty good with re-styling hair. But when they chop it off I get a sigh of relieft like I've just had a new tattoo. That great feeling, I'm personally think short suits me but its a lot of maintaing.

 

[Survivor71135]

So I saw in another thread and was surprised, I didn't want to take it of topic. When I'm in a reall...

I also have PTSD, and this is the third time I've cut my hair. Never in my life have I done it, but this is the third time since NYE 2016. It went from below my shoulders, to above my shoulders, to now, my chin. I'm sure this is stress related or anxiety, but I wouldn't know. It occurred to me today, and I decided to google and ended up here.

 

[Sheryl0124]

Wow I thought I was weird doing this it's nice to know I'm not alone !!! I always thought it was my way of cutting without cutting my skin etc. My hair can look great but I will feel sad inside so I just grab the scissors and cut!! at the time I think yea that's an ok length then it dries and curls to half the length I thought I had cut it to then I instantly regret it but then do it again and again and again. I've never just snipped a little off just go for it every time.

 

[eloc]

a lot of my trauma exposure is somehow gender related and I get to a point where gender conformity is just too much especially on top of having curly hair that dreads in a minute - then the hair comes off - when brushing your hair is a major chore - cutting it all off makes a whole lot of sense - I have immersed myself in a gender restrictive culture - so when it comes off it is a major issue for folks - gender norms are really very controlling - nobody should care about what I do with my hair