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Personal Story: From Pulling to Power: My Journey With Trichotillomania and Healing

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Read Aneela's story about her experience with Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior (BFRB), such as pulling hair, and how she is bringing hope and healing to others facing similar challenges.

"For as long as I can remember, I pulled out my hair. As a child, I didn’t have the language for what I was doing — only the deep knowing that something inside me felt unsettled. I would tug at my pubic hairs and later, my eyelashes and eyebrows, not even fully aware I was doing it. All I knew was that it brought some strange form of relief, even if only for a moment. But then came the shame.

That’s how trichotillomania began for me — quietly, in the background of my life. A body-focused repetitive behavior, or BFRB, that few people talked about, even fewer understood, and no one seemed to have answers for.

... Creating HabitAware started my BFRB awareness advocacy, and I've given a TEDx Talk, "Overcoming Trichotillomania: The Power of Awareness" to raise awareness of these little known, yet very common debilitating behaviors. 1 in 20 people experience a BFRB and now over 200,000 people have learned about BFRBs and seen my story of recovery!" - Aneela

Read Aneela's story here: adaa.org/living-with-anxiet...

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