Serious Symptoms Linked To Trichotillomania

Significant Stress Before Pulling Hair

With focused hair pulling, the behavior is done intentionally as a response to negative emotions. Hair pulling might be a coping mechanism to release feelings of frustration, fatigue, loneliness, boredom, tension, anxiety, or stress. Many patients describe feeling a tension that steadily increases the more they try not to pull, and they can't find release until they give in. For some individuals, trichotillomania is a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder. With this condition, affected individuals feel the need to complete certain compulsions built around obsessive thought patterns or behaviors. Failing to give in to the compulsions can cause significant emotional distress. When hair pulling is related to obsessive-compulsive disorder, patients may create elaborate rituals around the behavior.