What Causes Trichotillomania?

Stress

Stress can be good, but it can also do a lot of harm to the body. In fact, psychologists refer to negative stress as distress. Distress occurs when a stressor causes an individual to react with fearful or avoidant behavior, physical symptoms like increased heart rate, and a negative mood. Distress is something that contributes to the development of trichotillomania in a few ways. One, distress from the unwanted thoughts about hair pulling pushes the person to compulsively pull their hair. Hair pulling causes the distress to vanish, further compelling an individual to hair pull in response to the obsession. Two, distress may cause the obsession to form in response to negative events or stressors that happen to a person. Once the obsession with pulling hair is present, the patient may feel compelled to pull their hair by the previously described mechanism.

Get to know more about some trichotillomania causes now.