I've had tricho as long as I can remember. I remember getting told off for playing with my hair in late primary school, so that's pushing 30 years.
I think I did it as a stress reliever when I was worried about school or my parents arguing (I was an anxious child!).
I'm still doing it. It is mild to moderate. I do it mostly when I'm sat down at a computer concentrating and work, or watching TV at home, sometimes when I'm having conversations with others and it goes into overdrive when I'm stressed wherever I am.
I don't do it constantly or loose hours to it, so have no bald patches. But I do it quite a lot, every day. Hair pull, pluck and sometimes ingest 🙈 (not much) and it also pick the scabs on my scalp.
I'm acutely aware of it now I have a young daughter (6). She's starting picking her nose and getting nosebleeds and when I asked her she said "Well mummy you do that (mimes hair pull)"
I've also got a newish job and I'm scared people have seen me hairpull already and think I'm strange.
Is there anything anyone can suggest to kick this? I'll do anything apart from shave my head 😅
Any toys or things I can buy to keep hands busy?
i don't think therapy would work for me, I've had counselling before (for unrelated issues) and CBT for other things and I don't find therapists helpful or understanding. I don't think I need psychoanalysising I'd just love to stop or reduce. It's a compulsion for me, an obsession I'd like to slowly break.
Open to any ideas. If you've read this far then thank you x