I keep chewing my hair and pulling my eyebrows out...

[Minxoxoxo]

Hello,

I used to do this when I was a young teen but now I'm doing it again (I'm 21 now)
I have been pulling out my eyebrow hairs when I'm bored or anxious... sometimes I don't even realise I'm doing it until I look down and see all the hair...

I have looked into it and I think I may have trichotillomania... but I only do it to my eyebrows, not the hair on my head. And I don't eat the hair. I do, however, chew my hair, I don't swallow any of it but I have been doing that since I was a young teen too..

Please can someone give me any advice? I'm trying for a baby and my other half has been worried about the health problems I may cause myself...

Thank you

This suddenly made me remember that I used to pull my eyebrows out when I was very stressed. Did it without realising. Once I got divorced I stopped doing it. It's probably stress.

It definitely sounds like a type of trichotillomania. I used to do it to a minor extent with eye brow hair and even with the lashes. I also got into an awful habit of squeezing the pores on my face (started with a backhesd and went from there) which is a similar condition that I can't remember the name of.

It's habit but also tends to reflect stress and anxiety.

There must be help for it, whether it's books, online, counselling (at distance) etc.

It could be the trying for a baby - it can cause stress. Are you fully happy trying for baby at this time?

Everyone's different of course but to me that's very young indeed to be TTC and having a child to look after.

Are in fully happy in the relationship?

Do you feel he's controlling to any degree?

(What dies he mean cause yourself health problems ; the eyebrow hair pulling is not ideal but it's a pretty minor thing that falls under the umbrella of nail biting, hair twiddling etc. .... It ideally needs to stop but it's not a health problem as such).

I have been pulling out my eyebrow hairs when I'm bored or anxious

Have things happened recently that've made you more bored or anxious? I suppose lockdown might've effected it?

I used to skin pick- if I had a spot anywhere I'd pick and pick.

And of course all this is like an 'advanced' version of biting your nails.

With the skin picking I tried covering the mirrors up because I used to stand in front of the mirror to do it.

You could try doing something else with your hands? Is there a particular time/activity that you tend to do it, like watching Netflix or whatever?

Try and address any underlying anxiety or find something else to do when you're bored.

Other that I'd say just try and stop doing it, like any bad habit. Start today as day 1 and try and go a day without it etc.

Chewing hair doesn't really have any negative health impact, unless you have a lot of styling products on I suppose.

Do your eyebrows look thin? Just thinking its effect on your looks might help deter you from doing it.

I also looked at a skin-picking forum, maybe that's where I got the trick to cover the mirrors. You could try joining a trichotillomania forum.

Best wishes xxx

It does sound like anxiety induced trichotilomania. Pls talk to a gp and seek treatment, an acquaintance of mine ended up having surgery as her stomach was jammed up with hair.

Yes this is trich. I have it. I read that supplementing with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) helps and gave it a go - it did help me, took the edge off things. Google it and see what you think.
(Actually I need to order myself some more!)

It does sound like trichotillomania, which is often a side affect of anxiety and often linked to stress and OCD. The subconscious part of the mind will use it as a coping mechanism, similar to food, smoking etc. Please take comfort from some of the excellent responses here and the fact that it can be treated in a number of ways. Talking therapies, hypnosis, CBT etc.

Hi, I have dermatillomania which is similar. I also have generalised anxiety for which I've had some CBT, but haven't had specific treatment for the dermatillomania. I'm trying to quit by myself. It's very hard. You may find it helpful to access online support groups for people with BFRBs (body focused repetitive behaviours) as there's lots of advice as well as support from others who have the condition. Try the TLC Foundation www.bfrb.org/ and worth asking GP for CBT referral. Hope you find something that helps