Tips needed - pulling out eyebrow hairs for 40 years now and at end of tether (and brow hairs) how to stop?

[MotherTuckinGenius]

I do it when relaxed and happy, when stressed and not happy, when not really thinking!

Thanks to modern brow mascara and brow pencil I can present day to day with “normal brows”. Tonight has been particularly bad - I’ve just been mindlessly pulling them out. I know when I look at myself in the mirror in the morning I will be disgusted with myself!

It's called trichotilomania (might have spelt that wrong). Apparently CBT can work for some. You can ask your GP.
Any chance you can switch to snapping off the ends of your hair? It's less obvious.

I think it's called as an impulse control disorder. You're very much not alone!

Thank you @UnderTheSycamorefor your response. Unfortunately just snapping off bits of hair would not give the same feeling. Yes I agree I have that trich thing. It’s the feeling of hair being pulled from the roots that feels good. I’m hopeful that others can give tips on how to distract/stop myself doing it.

Following, I have no advice but I do similar.

However, I rub my eyebrows rather than pull but I have managed to rub away hair and now I have patchy brows.

@MotherTuckinGenius you can go to your GP and they should refer you for CBT

@UnderTheSycamoreI’d feel too daft to bother my GP with this - it seems so trivial in comparison to what others might be dealing with and appointments are hard to come by at my surgery. I’m 60 years old I should be able to stop this myself 🙈

Have you had any mental health support of this so far OP? If not, you really do need to start with your GP. Or seek private help. I'm surprised you have any eyebrows left!

Till you get support, have you tried plucking leg hairs instead? There is another level OP where people eat the hair and can get massive hair balls in their stomach, so consider yourself lucky it hasn't progressed to that.

I used to pull my eye lashes out but did stop the habit after about eight years! I used to put make up on to try and hide the bald patches and, weirdly, my best friend had the same habit!

It just stopped eventually..can’t understand how ! Don’t worry about burdening the GP - get support if you’re desperate to stop.

Good luck!

@MotherTuckinGenius try not to beat yourself up about it. It's much more common than you realise. Here are a couple of charities that have some good info and advice on their websites:
https://www.bfrbukireland.com/
https://trichotillomania.co.uk/uk-bfrb-support-charity/

Super super hard after 40 years of doing anything to stop. I feel by 60 I’d probably not put myself through the effort and stress of trying to stop. Your eyebrows often go v thin as you age anyway. Get them tattooed or microbladed.

@MaidMiriamthank you I will have a look at those sites.

Bit left field but have you thought about mounjaro? I think overall it blunts addictive behaviours and you don’t get the high. Hair pulling is addictive. Might be worth looking at?