When we get angry, angry or bored, we say "I pulled out my hair" or "she made me tear out my hair" to indicate the intensity of these emotions. This phrase, which we often say casually, actually describes a very unknown mental disorder. Trichotillomania is the repeated pulling out of one's own hair, resulting in noticeable hair loss. In Greek, triko = hair, tillo = pulling, and mani = madness, meaning excessive desire, and it was named by the French dermatologist Francois Hallopeau in 1889 by combining these words to indicate the "irresistible urge to pull out hair". It is classified as a psychiatric disease under the heading of impulse disorders. If a person tries to postpone or stop the urge to pull out hair, he/she feels increasing tension. When he pulls out his hair, he experiences a feeling of pleasure, relief and satisfaction. This condition, which is not due to any skin disease, becomes a negative impact on the person's life as it progresses.
It is not enough to limit trichotillomania to just pulling out 'hair'. Although it is mostly seen as a situation where hair is plucked, hairs such as eyebrows, eyelashes, other body hairs and chest hair in men can also be plucked. The disease can occur, leading to complete loss of eyebrows, eyelashes and hair. And this urge can occur at any time of the day. Many trichotillomania patients agree that plucking hair from different parts of the body is a relaxing action rather than a painful one, and gives a feeling of comfort. If you really can't understand it, you can think of it as a very simple analogy, like a place that itches a lot and the feeling of relief that occurs when we scratch it.
It can really start at any age, including infancy. But it often begins in late childhood and adolescence, around the age of 11-13. For this reason, it is thought that some hormonal changes may cause the disease. It is also common for it to begin during a stressful period of life, following an important life event. (However, it can also start completely out of the blue, when everything is in its normal course.)
An advanced dimension of trichotillomania; swallowing torn hair Occurring with: “Tricotillobezoar”
Swallowing the roots of plucked hair or other body hair is also a common behavior. Swallowing can sometimes be in the form of swallowing only the root part of the hair, or sometimes in the form of swallowing the entire hair. Swallowing the hair completely may, after a while, cause the hair accumulated in the intestines to form into a ball and cause intestinal obstruction, which may be serious enough to require urgent surgical intervention.
Treatment includes various treatments such as chlorpromazine, amitriptyline, imipramine, fluoxetine, clomipramine, paroxetine, and lithium. medicines; It is preferred according to the severity of anxiety and mood disorders.
Cognitive and behavioral therapies are required in the actual treatment. For this purpose;
1-Work is carried out to increase awareness of patient behavior. The patient is kept in a diary about hair plucking. Sometimes, a significant decrease in hair pulling can be observed even in connection with the patient's own records.
2-Situations that trigger hair pulling, such as reading, watching television, nervousness, boredom, insecurity, and entering social environments. detection is made. In this way, the patient is prepared to prevent hair pulling when he/she enters such situations.
3-It is ensured that the patient is able to identify actions that lead the patient to pull out hair, such as straightening the hair, touching the face, scratching the face.
4-In order to increase the patient's compliance with the treatment, the unconscious aspects of emotions such as frustration and anger arising from hair plucking are examined.
5-Aimed at removing the automaticity of hair plucking. Awareness training is given, such as imitating the same movement in front of a mirror.
6- In cases where anxiety and stress predominate, it is supported with relaxation techniques.
7- Attempts are made to create alternative reactions to hair pulling, such as clenching your hands into a fist or crossing your legs, that will not cause harm and will not be considered strange.
Read: 0
