#Actually trich

[youremyonlyhope]

Living with Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors

Me: *Is super stressed over life.*

Trichotillomania: Time to pull some hair! C'mon. You won't even notice you're doing it. It'll make you feel better.

Me: NO. *Spends 4 days putting hair in a mini twist protective style* There.

Dermatillomania: Hey. Your hands are free. And restless. And dry... Pick your skin. Bleed. Bleed.

Me: Stop! *Starts up a new crochet project to keep hands busy.* Ok cool.

Onychophagia: Hi hi. Your nails are.... perfect biting length... you should do that.

Me: Noooooooooooo *Paints nails.*

Dermatillomania: Oh look, you got some nail polish on your skin. Pick it off... now pick some more...

Me: SDJAKFDSJFKLDKAFDJKLAFJDKSAKLFDASL

#is this tmi? oh well. this is the tmi website #trichotillomania #dermatillomania #onychophagia #bfrb #body focused repetitive behavior #ocd #guys guess what? my therapist all but prescribed that i get a manicure to prevent picking at my skin #apparently after a year with this therapist i never mentioned my finger picking until this week #and she was like 'ok since you find it tough to paint them yourself get a manicure. self care and preventative' #because my cuticles are horrific due to me constantly picking at them and the sides of my fingers #so i've always been too embarrassed to go to a nail salon and my therapist was like 'exposure therapy!' #currently my nails are sloppily painted because i can't hold a brush still and they're already chipping after like 5 days #actually they probably started chipping on the second day honestly. #i need to redo my twists a bit which actually satisfies the trich urges since i'll be running my fingers through my hair to do it #but i won't actually be pulling. but also. i will be getting the shed hairs out. so. kind of fulfills that. #but right now my nails are long enough for me to feel them sometimes hit my keyboard. which. isn't normal for me. #and despite the nail polish i feel the urge to bite them shorter ahhhhh #anyway if you're Black with natural hair and have trich i HIGHLY suggest mini twists since it helps deter me from pulling #sure i have to redo it every few weeks but seriously. game changer. harder to find individual hairs to pull.

[beepshroom]

so i’ve had trichotillomania (a hair plucking disorder) my whole life, and i wonder if it’s because it kinda feels like preening my pin feathers….

#angelkin #otherkin #divinekin #actually angelic #alterhuman #wingkin #therian #trichotillomania #trich

[wetslug]

starting a new thread documenting hair growth bc my other one was getting too long!

may update wet n dry:

#this is to motivate me to keep growing my hair and to prove to myself it IS actually growing #bc with my current trich i wanna give up every week oop #btw this was my first time in a while trying mousse AND gel i give it a hmmm thumbs up #its a lil frizzy but thats my fault i was lying down...sleepy...

[dysmotility]

any other autistics have debilitating anxiety about their hair?

(disclaimer: im a white autistic, but i would love to hear from Black autistics about their relationship with autism + hair)

i have trichotillomania and part of that for me is compulsively cutting my hair. it’s this cycle of anxiety about my hair, i cut more of it thinking that will fix it, i freak out more because now it’s a lot shorter and will take so long to grow back out, and then i have to pay someone to fix it professionally.

my hair was the longest it had been in three years and i just fucked it up again. i’m making an appointment to fix it on saturday but i’m just having a really hard time with it right now. it feels silly to be upset about something as superficial as hair but it means a lot to me. i’m also very self conscious about my appearance and this is a big part of it. idk i’m just really overwhelmed

#actually autistic #autistic #trichotillomania #trich #ocd #vent #ahhhhh #i know hair grows back but it’s so overwhelming and i just wish i could go back in time ugh

[dontgointhere7]

Not 3d related

My trichotillomania testimonial

If you don’t have trich, it probably sounds gross and painful to pull hair out. But it doesn’t hurt at all! It feels nice and soothing.

I’ve been pulling my head hair out since I was 13, so for 19 years now. My area of choice is the crown of my head presumably due to the hair texture in that spot. There is always a light layer of hair next to my bed. The past few months I started pulling from all over my head which is new. I’m not sure why - I think boredom. I have nightmares of huge bald spots. Each hair I tell myself this is the last hair I’m going to pull for the day, but I keep pulling - sometimes without even noticing. I’ve pulled from other parts of my body but I don’t like it as much.

I apply Rogaine and take Nutrafol ($80/month) and NAC amongst other supplements to grow back the hair. All the while pulling it right out.

I don’t know how I’ll ever stop? Advice is welcome.

#trichotillomania #trich #trichy #trichology #hair pulling #hair puller #bpd #borderline personality disorder #borderline #actually bpd #borderline problems #borderline things #actually borderline #borderline thoughts #being borderline #ocd #tw trichotillomania #trichoderma #addict #addiction #bfrb #tw bfrb #body focused repetitive behavior #nutrafol #rogaine #actually ocd

[trich-journey]

day 3

today was hard because it was stressful but enough time for overthinking. and if i don't have the hair pulling as short way to calm me down it is really hard for me to get through these heavy emotions. but i tried my best today and didn't pull

maybe it would be helpful to learn meditation to have a positive short way to calm myself down... does it work for you or how do you deal with your emotion?

and the good thing i did for my hair today is brush it in the morning, taking care of it and trying to make it look beautiful. for me it was something good because usually i untangle it with my fingers which triggers pulling

#actually ocd #hair problems #hair pulling #ocd #recovery #trichotillomania #trich #bfrb awareness #repetitive behavior #tw bfrb #bfrb #body focused repetitive behavior

[steampunk-llama]

Need to draw more ocs with trichotillomania

#Honestly if you see me drawing my lil guys with no obvious lashes or brows then please assume its bc of trich #Bc I used to be so ashamed and confused of having it as a kid #Actually that goes for drawing existing characters too now #Like if Rainbow Dash is still an awesome element of loyalty and canonically super cool while having no eyebrow/lash swag them I can be too #Same with my sona as well #I already draw them without lashes but I should draw them with patchier brows too #trichotillomania #bfrb

[deadtrich]

confession post: I joined a 16+ discord server by saying I was 16 but I actually lied 😈 I was 15 (I have a warped perception of what is okay and not okay to lie about and it has put me in numerous dangerous situations)

#thought trich #confession #now I’m scared to ever interact with anyone who was in that server #because what if they are mad at me for lying 🤯 #but really I shouldn’t be anxious about what other people think #I should be anxious about not making myself vulnerable to dangerous situations because I am so stupid 😭 #actually autistic #think I’ll put that here because this is peak autism behavior from me

[blogthebooklover]

I may have shared a post some time ago about body focused repetitive behaviors (BFRB). Well, I’d figure it was time for me to share my own struggles with it. I have trichotillomania, and I’ve had it since I was 10 years old. It basically means self inflicted hair pulling, which 100% sucks ASS. When I turned 18 it went into (lack of a better term) remission and my hair grew out. I had it so long, that it touched the middle of my back (unfortunately, I don't have any pictures at this time of me with long hair). I absolutely loved how long my hair was.

And then, the whole 2016 Presidential election happened.

Aside from that, there were some other issues going on at the time, too.

That first picture is 23-year-old me feeling absolutely the worse I had EVER felt about myself. I felt so bad, all of the hard work I had put in to grow my hair out. There is so much shame around trich, constant self esteem issues, feeling alone, and too much bullying unfortunately. It was then, when I finally decided I would shave my hair completely. I felt so much more like myself than ever.

It absolutely does suck having this, especially when you’re a kid.

Here’s a small collection of me wearing four of my wigs (I have ten, yes TEN!), that I wear in public sometimes. Mostly during a holiday (that deep red one is my first lace front, btw).

Wearing wigs helps me out, I wore more natural looking ones in high school, and I like to express myself through them. I usually wear them in public, because I got done with people asking me about my hair loss (& I had a child ask me if I was a boy or a girl). I do like to choose whichever hairstyle I feel like coordinating with an outfit (yes, I intentionally wanted to look like a leprechaun for St. Paddy's Day, lol).

As you can also see from the photos, I'm plus-sized, which is DOUBLE the self esteem issues as a pre-teen and a teenager.

It took me a very long time to accept and love myself fully. I have my moments from time to time now as an almost 30-year-old woman. The point I am trying to make is that it wasn't until I was an adult, that I decided to really be honest about my mental health struggles. When you're growing up, you just want to fit in, no matter which group you wanted to be included at that time. I'm just mad at myself for not being more open and honest about my mental health.

We all want to be accepted and loved for who you are.

I want anyone who struggles with BFRB or any other mental health disorders to know: YOU ARE NOT ALONE! YOU ARE ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL!

I am here for you, if you just need to talk.

Edit: Apparently, I recently found out that September is also Trichotillomania and Alopecia Awareness Month. YAY!!!!

#my face #trichotillomania #trichotillomania awareness #bfrb awareness #mental health #mental health awareness #mental health matters #hair loss #tw hair pulling #self love #self care #self worth #you are valid #you are loved #body focused repetitive behavior #obsessive compulsive related disorders #representation matters #trich awareness month #september #actually ocd #alopecia awareness month #i'm tagging this under alopecia b/c of similarities w/ hair loss #you are beautiful #you are enough

[professor-glasses]

This might sound crazy but after a decade plus of being plagued by the unstoppable force of trich (compulsive hair pulling) I might finally have obtained an item that's actually able to counter and combat it

#i need to wait since i only got it on my bday. it's a bracelet that one of my grandmothers gave to me (not for that purpose lol) #i can't say for sure. sometimes this stuff seems to work and then weeks pass and the effectiveness fails out and the trich reigns again #but bro this bracelet is very powerful. very beautiful #it has just enough weight and the beads are smooth and make a clicky sound together and i can twist and play with them n shit #it's a chrysocolla bracelet that's actually too big for me to use properly as a bracelet but to fit in my hand? it's the PERFECT size #and because it's a bracelet it's easily transportable and won't like. draw negative attention or make me self conscious #i kept interrupting my typing in this post to pick it up and shake it like dice

[hiramstolowitski]

grrrrrrr

#how many breaking points can i hit actually #me: this is a normal human amount of stress that i can handle #me the next day examining the gap in my eyelashes: oh so this is what we’re doing now. okay #trich

[corvids-corner]

It’s so silly that my mental disorder that I’ve been struggling with for years can be fixed by just putting some tape or a bandaid on like one or two fingers 💀

#I mean we’ll have to wait and see if it’s this effective when I’m actually stressed but #still a good improvement #trich #trichotillomania #bfrb

[youremyonlyhope]

Trichotillomania is weird.

Because just now I was reading a bit in the trich subreddit, and as I scrolled with my right hand I could literally feel my left hand want to pull hair. So I was like “No. Don’t.” and the feeling stopped. Then I put my attention back into reading whatever post I was on and the urge was instantly back the moment I stopped focusing on not pulling. I actually nearly pulled before I noticed and stopped.

I can’t tell yet if reading about other people’s experiences is helpful or not. On one hand it makes me want to pull, but on the other hand it makes me hyperaware of the urge to pull so I’m more likely to choose not to rather than absentmindedly do it. So I guess it’s neutrally good?

Anyway. I gotta go get box braids to see if this will help me fight the urge.

#trichotillomania #oh yeah i have trich #goes hand in hand with the anxiety and ocd #i thought i'd mentioned it before but i searched my blog and didn't see any posts so yay #i think a braiding place near me might be the way to go since their reviews look good and the location looks good too #since so many braiding places are holes in the wall that i'm sure do amazing work but i've never gotten my hair professionally braided #so i'd rather go somewhere that has an actual website and a large legit space #since i don't personally have the connections of 'my cousin works at this salon' or 'auntie works at that salon' or 'friend's sister braids' #since that's usually the reason you go to those hole in the wall places because you already know the braiders there. #i know that mini twists definitely help me fight the pulling urge but it takes me 2-4 days to do mini twists on my whole head myself #since i prefer having like 150+ twists in my head and i have to do my own parting and my arms get tired easily #having someone else do braids (or maybe mini twists) for me would be much easier and faster #also i've literally been pulling since i was like 16 or probably earlier but 16 was when i was like oh i pull my hair and acknowledged it #then 24 i think was when i was like 'ok this is a problem and not just a habit' because yay pandemic #making all my mental illnesses much more pronounced and the reason i started wearing mini twists more often #also i want to go so i can confirm that i don't have bald spots. that's my fear. #i should have known at age 20 when i was worried about a hairstylist finding bald spots that i had an issue. 24 was too late. #i can ask the braider if she notices any. but then again i think if i know i have any it will make me freak out... hmm... #anyway i'm posting this partially because i need to dye my hair with henna before i do anything to my hair #because my greys have like 2 inches of new growth. it's a miracle i don't pull my greys. i like them too much to pull them. #i'm actually sad when i see a grey in my hairbrush. i like that they're now all bright orange from the henna #i actually want MORE greys so i can make them be orange highlights #so yeah gonna henna my hair tomorrow after my therapy appointment and then figure out when/where i will get my hair braided #and i'll get that done either next week or the following week

[untraceable-ace]

It’s been a very long time since I’ve interacted with anyone else with trich, so maybe this is just a me thing, but I feel like when you develop trich before puberty there’s a very specific type of grief that can be associated with never knowing your “true” hair type, especially if you have it bleached post-puberty, because regrowth can change your hair texture/color

idk im just in a rough pulling patch and getting emotional grieving over things I’ve never had despite being pretty okay w my hair right now

#my posts #trich #trichotillomania #also gonna throw in #actually autistic #i usually don't really post stuff like this because it's a bit heavier than what i like to keep on my blog but #i haven't felt this kind of grief over my hair in a long while so i left my support group a couple years ago #and it's flaring up again tonight for whatever reason soooo #here i am

[lystring]

anyone else's hair grow out with literal knots on them or am i just cursed by a witch

#lmaoo #ive tried googling it and im torn between #it being some genetic thing where my hairs just have like knots in them and them literally just likaöe #tying themselves into knots somehow #which also might be q genetic thing but #not sure if its because of my trich or actually genetic #might explain why my hair got so easily tangled as a child #but also it just feels like its more a 'last 5-10 years' sorta thing and not since i was a kid #cus i dont remember this from when i was a lot younger #like it looks like actual knots like someone tied individual hairs on my scalp into super tight knots #n not like clumps inside of the hair? if it makes sense #anyway #personal #🙃

[trich-journey]

day 6

today was wellness day and it was really good and relaxing. i only had the urge a few times but no pulling. i think it was helpful that my hair was wet and tied up the whole time. but I also was ashamed because when my hair is wet it is easier to see the bald spots and i can't hide them. i hope it grows back...

the wellness day was also kind of what i did for my hair or at least for myself and I really enjoyed it.

#hair problems #hair pulling #recovery #ocd #trichotillomania #actually ocd #bfrb #bfrb awareness #body focused repetitive behavior #mental health #tw bfrb #repetitive behavior #stress #anxienty #anxitey #anxeity #trich