What trauma causes trichotillomania?

Author: Myah Fay  |  Last update: Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Recently, a strong relationship of family chaos during childhood and trichotillomania has also been reported, in which 86% of women with trichotillomania reported a history of violence—for example, sexual assault or rape—concurrent with the onset of trichotillomania.

Is trichotillomania a trauma response?

Some have argued that hair pulling in trichotillomania (TTM) is triggered by traumatic events, but reliable evidence linking trauma to TTM is limited. However, research has shown that hair pulling is associated with emotion regulation, suggesting a connection between negative affect and TTM.

What is the root cause of hair pulling?

Causes of trichotillomania

It could be: your way of dealing with stress or anxiety. a chemical imbalance in the brain.

What is the cause of trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania can be related to emotions, including: Negative feelings. Pulling out hair may be a way of dealing with negative or uncomfortable feelings, such as stress, anxiety, tension, boredom, loneliness, extreme tiredness or frustration.

What vitamins are good for trichotillomania?

Furthermore, evidence to date has suggested that dietary changes (e.g., eating a gluten free diet or increasing vitamin D and B12) may play a role in reducing the symptoms of Tourette's and obsessive compulsive disorder, disorders with some phenomenological and possibly genetic relationship to trichotillomania and skin ...

Trichotillomania: Treating BFRB's like Hair-Pulling Disorder and Skin-Picking Excoriation

What deficiency causes trichotillomania?

Vitamin D deficiency has been correlated with non-scarring alopecia including alopecia areata or female pattern hair loss. It was theorized that hair loss secondary to vitamin D deficiency in patients susceptible to trichotillomania may exacerbate this obsessive-compulsive disorder.

What vitamin stops skin picking?

N-Acetylcysteine (NAC): NAC is an amino acid that has shown promise in reducing compulsive behaviors, including skin picking, in some studies. It may work by increasing levels of the neurotransmitter glutamate, which plays a role in impulse control.

What chemical imbalance causes trichotillomania?

The cause of trichotillomania is not clearly understood but is believed to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Imbalances in the natural brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and dopamine may also contribute to this impulse control disorder.

What helps stop trichotillomania?

Therapy can help people overcome trichotillomania. The most widely used type of therapy is called habit-reversal training (HRT). It's a type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In this therapy, people meet with a therapist to learn skills to help them reverse the hair pulling habit.

How did I cured my trichotillomania?

Habit reversal training.

This behavior therapy is the main treatment for trichotillomania. You learn how to recognize situations where you're likely to pull out your hair and how to substitute other behaviors instead. For example, you might clench your fists to help stop the urge.

Why does trichotillomania feel good?

Pulling hair out can temporarily release tension, giving you a feeling of relief. You may find that stress triggers your hair-pulling, or you may do it when you feel relaxed. Trichotillomania can cause thinning hair or bald spots and other symptoms.

What is the new medication for trichotillomania?

Dermatology Times previously reported research by Grant et al has shown that the glutamate modulatormemantine (Namenda), a drug used to treat Alzheimer's disease, is associated with significant improvements in symptoms of adults with trichotillomania or excoriation disorder (skin-picking or dermatillomania).

Can you stop trichotillomania on your own?

People with this condition often feel ashamed, embarrassed or guilty because of it. If you have TTM or know someone who does, it's important to remember this is a medical condition and that hair pulling is very difficult to control or stop on your own.

What is the motivation of trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania (TTM) is postulated to be a disorder in which both impulsivity, motivated by reward, and compulsivity, motivated by punishment, contribute equally.

What happens in the brain with trichotillomania?

Other imaging studies of trichotillomania reported reduced gray matter in the left inferior frontal gyrus23 and reduced cerebellar volumes. More recently, whole-brain analysis identified increased gray matter densities in the left caudate/putamen, bilateral cingulate, and right frontal cortices.

What not to say to someone with trichotillomania?

Don't say, “You need to learn to relax, and maybe the pulling will stop automatically.” Usually, this isn't true. My clients with trich have hairpulling on their mind constantly (which can be mentally exhausting) and have uncontrollable urges to pull.

What worsens trichotillomania?

Adults with trichotillomania frequently report that their pulling worsens during periods of heightened anxiety [9]. Alternatively, hair pulling for many adults leads to avoidance of social activities and results in anxiety during intimate situations [6], [10], [11].

Do any celebrities have trichotillomania?

“Don't Look Up” actor Leonardo DiCaprio is believed to have trichotillomania due to openly sharing on multiple accounts of suffering from OCD. Leo has spoken about living with OCD throughout his childhood and adult life.

Does trichotillomania ever go away?

Trichotillomania is characterized by repetitive pulling out of one's hair, leading to distress and/or functional impairment. Long considered a chronic condition if left untreated (albeit with fluctuating intensity), there have been intimations that the disorder may be of limited duration in some people.

What is the root cause of trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania is part of OCD and is thought to be largely related to anxiety disorders. There have been twin studies that have demonstrated genetic anomalies associated with trichotillomania and other OCD-related disorders.

What can be mistaken for trichotillomania?

Individuals may be misdiagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), an anxiety disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, or even drug addiction.

What vitamin deficiency causes trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania Triggered by Vitamin D Deficiency and Resolving Dramatically With Vitamin D Therapy.

What foods are good for trichotillomania?

"Good" foods include allicins (onions, garlic), tannins, yogurt and tropical fruits [5]. There are no published studies of the efficacy of this diet in trichotillomania.

How long does NAC take to work for trichotillomania?

It takes about a month or two (studies show 4-9 weeks) of NAC to show benefit. Taking a supplement for that length of time without benefit can be difficult and might cause some to quit prematurely, but I'd recommend at least two months before deciding it doesn't work.

How to break skin picking habit?

Things you can try if you have skin picking disorder
  1. keep your hands busy – try squeezing a soft ball or putting on gloves.
  2. identify when and where you most commonly pick your skin and try to avoid these triggers.
  3. try to resist for longer and longer each time you feel the urge to pick.

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