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New Member Intro
Hey Everyone,
I just joined this site in an effort to connect to other people who have trichotillomania like myself. I've had this condition since I was 12 years old, and now I'm 32, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I realized there was a name for the condition. Only in this past year have I come to find that there is also a large community of people out there too!
I've had my ups and downs in the past 20 years, have always wanted to quit, but my willpower is admittedly very low. This is probably because I unfortunately get a considerable amount of satisfaction from my trich activities. I feel like I've tried so many different things to get myself to stop, but in the end, because of the pleasure I get out of my hair, I have never been successful quitting for long.
Anyone in this same boat? Suggestions?
i know a lot of people have the same experiece as you did - having this disorder for years and years without even knowing its got a name to it. its very common.
i dont think the inability to quit has to do with your "willpower being low" - this disorder is almost impossible to stop using willpower. its just not the way it works. many times when people try using willpower, they end up pulling even more (cause of the accumulated stress related to dealing with stopping).
you mentioned that you tried different things to stop - can you share what these are?
In reply to hi there! by trickie
So the things I have tried...wearing hats, putting my hair up, styling my hair, wearing it down, using a lot of product in my hair, shaving my head, using negative reinforcement (snapping rubber band around wrist), and positive reinforcement, habbit-breaking iphone apps (to measure the time between pulls), and I'm not sure if I've used anything else. The iPhone apps actually seem to work the best. Sometimes I don't pull for ~3days, but then when I do, I do it a lot. Right now it's been 4 minutes - it hasn't been a very good 24hrs).