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Originally Posted by timrousbeastie
I've been pulling for over 20 years - I'm now 36 - and this year reached the point where the hair on my head is so thin and damaged that I decided to start wearing a wig. I never wanted to before because I was afraid it would look unnatural and would increase the danger of being "found out" as a hair puller. I've been wearing the wig for four months now and I love the feeling of having thick hair again, and it does feel more "normal" than wearing bandanas and hats every day.
But now I am getting increasingly anxious about the wig coming off in public, and more and more upset about the terrible state of my own hair and scalp. My hair has gone more than 50% white because of the damaged follicles and it is in a terrible condition. I am too ashamed to go to any hairdresser so have been clipping it short by myself at home. It looks hideous!
Meanwhile I have given up hope of ever stopping pulling. I;ve had several runs of psychotherapy over the years but nothing has ever helped me stop.
I feel so miserable about this. I'm studying just now, and the stress is clearly making me pull more, but now I fear that I'll never get a job again because I am such an out-of-control freak.  |
I'm afraid I can't offer any advice, but I know how you feel.
Fortunately I naturally have pretty thick hair so the hair loss has never been very noticeable, but I've been pulling my hair out for about 8 years and despite three lots of therapy have only once managed to stop for a significant length of time (1 year). Stress makes it worse for me as well.
But at the moment I'm into my third week without having pulled my hair out - I can feel that it's not long before it'll start up again, because I still can't stop playing with my hair, but it's better than nothing. Just take things one day at a time, and even if you start pulling again the next day after managing a day without it, that will still have helped your hair.
Also, if you can wear gloves and/or a hat while you're studying, that can help because it makes it more difficult to pull your hair out. Good luck.