I'm 23 years old and had trich my whole life. I used to pull a lot back in school, but now (since I haven't been to school in 4 years for reasons), I pull but a lot less. I still have bald spots on my head and it's hard to hide it. People ask me if I can grow my hair out but I can't and when I explain, they look at me like I am attention-seeking or crazy, that's why I don't tell many. If I get urges, I'll pull but I've been trying to control it. Any advice on how to resist urges?
I completely understand how hard this must be for you—I am24 and it’s so difficult to deal with trichotillomania at this stage of life,whether you are in school or not. First of all, and I know this is hard, trynot to take to heart the messages from people who believe you are “attention-seekingor crazy.” They are misguided in those assumptions. You do not pull forattention or because you are crazy—you pull because you have a disorder, thesame one I do, and this is something that is hard to deal with, but that is inno way your fault. If you ever start to doubt that, don’t hesitate to look atthe Trichotillomania Learning Center website (trich.org) to read the stories ofother strong individuals, just like you, who will remind you that you are notalone. Or, if you have friends who you trust, let them know that you need somesupport. The people who really care about you will not judge you for your baldspots, but will love you for who you are: a person who is so much more thantheir hair.
In terms of controlling urges, there are many strategies,some of which will probably work better for you than others. For me, it hasbeen most helpful to incorporate exercise into my day to day routine (this releasesmuch of my anxiety), and to force myself to make a fist every time I feel anurge. The fist serves as a “competing response” that replaces the pulling.Urges usually are their strongest in the first minute, and then fade, so try tohold the fist for 60 seconds. These have been most helpful to me, but there areso many other strategies, some of which you can find on the TrichotillomaniaLearning Center website.
From a fellow early 20’s person to you, I sincerely hopethis helps in some way. Remember to be gentle with yourself, and to let othersknow when you need some extra support. You’re not crazy and are not alone.There are ways to beat this, both through fighting urges, but also throughhealing by offering yourself compassion and acceptance. Good luck!