Bald spots 😩: Sooo one of my bad... - Anxiety and Depre...

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Bald spots 😩

dbeck128 profile image
13 Replies

Sooo one of my bad habits and I mean BAD is pulling my hair out. It's so addictive to me. I do it once and tell myself NO MORE and then boom I'm pulling strands out. Coping mechanism? Probably. It just soothes me... but now low and behold I've created a BALD SPOT! Yikes. It's not growing back either. Totally noticable too.

How do I kick this bad habit? More importantly how do I get my hair back?! 🤣

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dbeck128 profile image
dbeck128
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13 Replies

Time will grow it back and putting rosemary oil in your shampoo. You might benefit from wearing a bracelet with beads on it forget what they’re called yogis use them to meditate. You need a fidget toy that’s ok to take with you to fidget with. You might find your hair soothing why you do that. Try massaging your cheeks instead or gentle touching of your arms very soothing.

Celtic27 profile image
Celtic27

Hi there I would see your doctor soon pulling your hair out so often may lead to permanent bald spots! Do you suffer from anxiety or depression if not you should see your doctor and see if thats what you've got it would explain the pulling out your hair

dbeck128 profile image
dbeck128 in reply to Celtic27

I suffer from both. Sadly it's a horrible habit. I feel it's almost impossible to stop. I tell myself no. And end up pulling. One by one 😒😒😒

Sillysausage234 profile image
Sillysausage234

Try an elastic band on your wrist twang it so it sends a pain signal to your brain to distract you ......and buy a hat or maybe a shower cap 😊

dbeck128 profile image
dbeck128 in reply to Sillysausage234

I believe I'll have to start wearing wigs again. But I like to anyways so it's a win I suppose 😬😊

Sillysausage234 profile image
Sillysausage234

youtu.be/ENqcrQa5jno

in reply to Sillysausage234

Yes good idea this SS x

dbeck128 profile image
dbeck128 in reply to

Will have to try. My self soothing method is sway in one place whilst my chin is on my neck and I pick my hair out one by one.

Soooooo unhealthy!!! 🙄

dbeck128 profile image
dbeck128 in reply to dbeck128

May I add... I have a fear of writing out my stress. I'm scared someone will see them and judge me. Does that make sense? Maybe I will but rip up the letters

LilyAnnepuppy profile image
LilyAnnepuppy in reply to dbeck128

Exactly. Rip them up or burn them. I find writing things down gets the thoughts out of myself into the paper. And then I can let go of them.

Dolphin14 profile image
Dolphin14

I have a friend that did this. It's called trichotillomania.

Any of those anxiety activities people have posted may help you.

She also took biotin for hair growth.

quitter333 profile image
quitter333

Have you considered getting a pixie cut?

also bad habits can be fought physically - e.g. put a band around your wrist. snap it painfully against it, when you have a thought to pull hair. Eventually you will first think about snap before hair and idea of pulling hair will fade away. And you can then simply stop wearing the wirstband/ use for other habits.

NWGal profile image
NWGal

Here's what I found: Trichotillomania is a body-focused repetitive behavior classified as an impulse control disorder (along the lines of pyromania, kleptomania, and pathologic gambling) which involves pulling out one's hair. Hair pulling may occur in any region of the body in which hair grows but the most common sites are the scalp, eyebrows, and eyelids.

Occurring more frequently in females, it is estimated that 1%-2% of adults and adolescents suffer from trichotillomania. In general, trichotillomania is a chronic condition that will come and go throughout an individual’s life if the disorder is not treated. For some individuals, the disorder may come and go for weeks, months, or years at a time.

The two methods of treatment that have been scientifically researched and found to be effective are behavioral therapy and medications, which are generally used in combination.

Therapy. In behavioral therapy, people learn a structured method of keeping track of the symptoms and associated behaviors, increasing awareness of pulling, substituting incompatible behaviors and several other techniques aimed at reversing the “habit” of pulling (e.g. the rubber band technique).

Medications. Although medications clearly help some people temporarily, symptoms are likely to return when the medication is stopped unless behavioral therapy is incorporated into treatment. Medications may help to reduce the depression and any obsessive-compulsive symptoms the person may be experiencing.

Commonly used medications are:

fluoxetine (Prozac)

fluvoxamine (Luvox)

sertraline (Zoloft)

paroxetine (Paxil)

clomipramine (Anafranil)

valproate (Depakote)

lithium carbonate (Lithobid, Eskalith)

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