ok, SO! i have noticed a trend with characters who pull out their hair bc they're "crazy/angry". and its incorrect. if ur gonna do it, at least do it right, my dudes. this is why i'm here! i'm a Proffesional Hair-Puller(tm) and i'm gonna tell u how to do it correctly. (I tried to make this as short as possible, for my fellows with ADHD)
First, it's harder than you'd think to just grab a fistful of hair and pull. it's gonna hurt and you might not even get any out. If I'm doing chunks, usually I can only get about 5-15 hairs out at once, and i have to section it off to get the right amount (not counting, just estimating). of course, the amount depends on hair thickness, hair strength, and hair type (ie curly, straight, etc.), and hair length. curlier hair is hardest, and if you haven't pulled hair recently/a lot then it'll be easier.
Also i find that not a lot of people know how to pull out the roots? idk how to describe them, but its so soothing when u get them cause theyre kinda cold usually? anyways, if ur character pulls a lot, their head will be itchy. very very itchy. because hair grows back. Also! your character will very likely not get a bald spot if it's their first/only time pulling out their hair. This is because it takes at least 50% of ur hair to be gone before anything is visible.
I wanted to make this post because recently i saw some very very bad representation of trichotillomania in a book, and i wanted to correct it so more people knew! i know stuff like this isnt very common when u search it up, so i thought it would be useful to make a post on it.
sidenote: if you want, you can try it on your self, but i wouldnt recommend it because you might be at risk of getting it. trich is more common in families, particually families of people with OCD, although it doesn't mean that you wont get addicted if your family/relatives don't have it, or that you will get if they do have it. In my family it skipped a generation and landed on me, for example. HOWEVER, for me it's a very pleasent expirience 1000/10, it's just the social implications that suck ass.
side-sidenote: pulling hair from the top of your head isnt the only type of pulling, there's also pulling at eyelashes and eyebrows. Those are the ones I mainly pull at, and eyelashes are typically not noticable and eyebrows tend to be very visible. you can't really hide eyelashes, but you can hide eyebrows if you have eyebrow makeup. I've gone years without anyone noticing my missing eyebrows, thanks to this. You can also use tweezers for these, as well as beard hair. I do not have beard hair so idk how that works, but I'm sure there's something online about it. I don't think pulling out eyelashes/eyebrows hurt, nor the hair on the top of my head, but that's just my opinion. Bottom eyelashes do hurt though. I have been pulling since I was 7, so I might just be desensitized.
