Girls on the Pull Documentary Part1

'Girls On The Pull' is a two part documentary created and uploaded to YouTube in 2011. Although the documentary is 5 years old already, everything in this video is still very relevant and relateable for those who suffer from trichotillomania. It is unknown who commissioned the video and there was no known information on the person who owns the YouTube channel where the documentary was uploaded, only that is was created for Channel 4 in the UK. However there is a common thread among all the other videos from the channel, which is Lucinda Ellery. Incidentally it was exactly a year ago that we posted an article on this blog about Lucinda Ellery. Lucinda created and developed the revolutionary  Intralace System™ which offers women an alternative to the wig, which looks natural, can be looked after like your own hair and can be worn 24 hours a day. 

3 Different Women, 3 Different Perspectives on Pulling

In this first part of the documentary we are introduced to three very different young women who suffer with trichotillomania. They describe what its like to have the urge to pull and how it affects their day to life, their relationships and the way they perceive themselves. Each woman also speculates on the various reasons they think they may have started pulling. We also get to meet Lucinda herself who speaks very knowledgably and yet also with great compassion about trichotillomania. In this introductory first part it is evident that all three women initally wear wigs to cover up their bald spots. However they describe some of the difficulties with wearing a wig:

• itchiness
• feeling fearful that it might fall off in public
• constantly needing to adjust the position of the wig
• loss of confidence 
• cannot swim or shower with it on
• cannot go to the hairdresser 

At the end of the documentary Lucinda meets one of the young ladies for the first time for a consulation and starts the intralace system that she applied to. In the follow up video the journey with these brave women continues. We will share part 2 next month.