Trichotillomania

[Stopandbreathe]

Does anyone have any experience with trichotillomania in young teenagers? My 13 year old started pulling at her eyelashes and eyebrows about 6 months ago - it's now at the point where she has no eye lashes and hardly any brows left 😔 We believe she sits on the autism spectrum although very highly functioning, she also suffers from tics intermittently and has done so for about 4-5 years. CBT therapy previously did help this but she didn't really enjoy doing it as a process.

We've had long chats about school and how she is feeling and everything seems fine, she's very sporty and has a busy life outside of school. I think it may actually be a kind of stim for her as she says she likes the feeling of pulling them and has often done it before she's realised what she is doing. I've got her some picky pads and a few fidget toys and told her there is nothing to be embarrased about as she can't help it and that we love her no matter what but we are 6 months in and not really making any progress. I've also got her some eyebrow and eyelash serum to try and encourage regrowth which does help but she leaves them alone for a week or two then the whole cycle starts again 🤦‍♀️

I just want to help her, we are managing ok by filling in her brows but I know its bothering her more than she lets on. Does anyone have any experience of this and have any suggestions of anything else we could try?

My DD had (has? - not sure it ever goes away as a ‘go to’ way to manage anxiety) which manifested age c.13 during Covid era.

She hated the fact it could be visible to others so was keen to find a way to manage it.

I’m lucky she was on my work BUPA scheme so we were able to access an excellent clinical psychologist. She had about 10 sessions with her and was able to learn some strategies to deal with anxieties which triggered it. Through her sessions a number of different anxieties were identified and it helped DD to work out how to deal with these before the compulsive responses surfaced.

She also has many ADHD characteristics although no formal diagnosis as the school said there was nothing wrong in their view 🤨 (quiet in class, no fuss, intelligent and able to work out her own strategies to appear like a swan on the surface…)

Happy to answer Q’s if helpful.

I have this and have had it since I was about 12. It would also get to the point where I would have no eyebrows or eyelashes left. I still do it but not as often, I find stress/anxiety triggers it. I’ve tried to find different coping mechanisms to help but it’s hit and miss.