Tricotillomania comes from the Greek root and means trichotillomania, hair pulling, mania and excessive desire. Although the exact cause of the disease is known, one or more events may have occurred that weakened impulse control. The disease usually begins in childhood and adolescence. Stress factor plays an important role in this disease, but the disease can also start without any stress factor. The individual in question may also be affected by family events, or he may think about how to marry his daughter and engage in the act of plucking hair. According to research, it has been observed that every group is affected by this disease, regardless of gender, education, sociocultural and age structure. It has been observed that individuals suffering from this disease pull their hair regardless of time and place. They may also pull the hair of their relatives. Some of these individuals state that they pluck without realizing it, while others may pluck even though they are aware of it. Apart from individuals who tear off their hair and bristles, they can chew the hairs they plucked in their mouth and even swallow them. In this way, it is also seen that they apply to the hospital with complaints such as severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
As the hair pulling behavior continues, changes occur in the physical appearance of the patients. The person who pulls out his hair exhibits behaviors such as wearing a wig, using glasses, and drawing pencil on his eyebrows. After hair pulling attacks, the individual experiences feelings such as regret, anger and disappointment, which reduces the individual's self-confidence, triggers the feeling of loneliness, leads to lack of pleasure in daily activities and deterioration in social relationships. It should not be ignored that patients with such characteristics may also be prone to depression. Individuals who pluck hair and hair also feel guilty in society for their behavior. "I wonder if they understood that I covered my eyebrows with make-up? Negative automatic thoughts such as "What if my head is uncovered and the hair I plucked out are visible and I become a disgrace?" dominate. These thoughts and stress factors trigger the vicious circle that continues the disease and they live their lives in the grip of the disease.
Trichotillomania patients It is among the information we have obtained from our clients that individuals who are infected with the disease do not feel any pain. Their normalized actions occur normally during plucking and they continue plucking without feeling any pain.
Pharmacological support as a form of treatment has important effects on the treatment of the disease. The success rate increases when medication and psychotherapy are used together for treatment. According to the Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy model, the therapy model is applied through the distorted and incorrect automatic thoughts of the patients treated. It is aimed to extinguish old habits with techniques such as reversing habits, creating charts for the person to follow himself, and rewarding him on days when he reduces his purging. The hair-pulling behavior in question is replaced by another action, which is dynamically similar to the hair-pulling action. For example; Playing with a ring, bracelet or necklace is like playing with a stress ball, but it does not have to be an object. This may include actions such as putting your hands in your pocket, making fists and squeezing them. These actions are required to be performed for a certain period of time, with the aim of easing the strong desire in the act of breaking at that moment. Another treatment method is to ensure that the patient relaxes with relaxation exercises. Thanks to this exercise, the patient will feel more alert.
All these constitute the treatment method and it is beneficial to get help from experts.
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