Compulsive Disorder Treatment Question/Idea

Hi guys. A friend of mine has Trichotillomania and I'm just wondering if anybody can tell me if they have found a certain technique or activity that helps to take their mind off of the pulling? My friend is able to control it enough that you wouldn't even know they have it, but they told me it has been a problem for about 10 years now. I always noticed their eyebrows and eyelashes were thinner than usual but i always figured it was strange genetics until they told me about this disorder.

Also, I would like your opinions on this strategy to stop the pulling. I've read multiple articles about ankle weights on your wrists, wearing gloves, putting tape over your fingers, but I thought of something different the other night...

In my psychology class (I'm in High School) we went over the unit of conditioning. Small electric shocks were very effective in stopping children from head banging when nothing else seemed to get through to them. I figured this would be the most ideal situation to get somebody who has trichotillomania to stop pulling. Actually, I feel like this would get just about anybody to stop any compulsive behavior. The obvious problem is that it's impractical because there's no way you can hook somebody up to a device like that and monitor them 24/7. Even if you could that would just be inhumane in some cases, it just wouldn't work out. But then I suddenly remembered the electrical pens that are used in a bunch of pranks. Back when I was in middle school I got fooled pretty good by one of these pranks and I never wanted to touch the thing again. Even though it's a pretty low shock, most of them do hurt quite a bit. So, that got me thinking... Does anybody think, or is anybody willing to try buying one of these electrical pens/shock pens to test out my idea? Or at least give me your opinions on its potential effectiveness? Here's what I came up with...

First off, the person would have to be in a desperate situation. Either that or just extremely determined to get themselves to stop pulling hair or some other type of compulsion they do. From what I remember the sensation you get from the shock pens/other shock pranks isn't exactly pleasant so it will take a lot of willpower to continue the shocks. They're not that painful but they just make you feel uncomfortable, it's nothing serious or anything.

While watching TV, reading a book, or doing some other activity that usually triggers the compulsions, the person could be holding the shock pen in one of their hands. Every time they go to pick at a scab or pull out a hair, they could force themselves to press the pen down to give themselves a quick shock. I've read that most of the time people succumb to these impulses when they're bored or stressed, and when they do it is sometimes in a trance-like state. Maybe this shock will snap them out of it for a short amount of time and continue to do so, hopefully for longer of periods of time after multiple shocks.

In psychology we learned that people could be conditioned to do, or not do, any behavior. If the shock from the shock pens are significant enough to snap the person out of their compulsion for some amount of time then I think this idea has potential. The only tricky part of it is that the person has complete control over whether they want to keep inflicting pain on themselves with this shock. It won't exactly be fun because they'll want to give in very badly and may just throw the pen away and go back to their old ways. But if the person is determined enough I feel like this could be a great barrier. Maybe this could be combined with wearing ankle weights... That way if people are doing their compulsions without even noticing it, the heavy hands will force themselves to notice. If they still continue and don't resist by themselves, all they need to do is press down on the pen with their thumb.

Thoughts? If it's a ridiculously stupid idea then feel free to tell me, I just figured it was worth asking.

IHaveQuestions ...

Possibly have them purchase something which will occupy their hands whenever they become bored or agitated and begin picking or plucking at hair growth.

I would suggest buying several small containers of Silly Putty or other malleable material that is geared toward kids that like to play with "smooshy" or "curiously odd" substances (Play Doh, Frap, etc.).

The Silly Putty provides an immediate tactile response and since it is malleable, one can pull, stretch, pluck, pop, or snap it and it will always return to its original shape ... a blob of putty.

You may just want to run it by your friend and see what they have to say about it. The Silly Putty can be carried around in its small egg-shaped container and is available in several colours ... one is flesh tone and can be used discretely in one's hand and nobody will notice they're fidgeting with it.

Just an idea for you.

Take care,

-vertebrae-

you can't use negative reinforcement to stop obsessive or compulsive behaviours generally... as many here already know, there are already plenty of negative factors involved...

for example, hair pulling results in immediate pain but it does nothing to stop the pulling

there is a distinction between *choosing* to do something and doing it compulsively... while you can treat compulsions through cognitive means, this is not the mechanism that caused the problem. Meaning... something neurological happens that creates misfiring of neurons, or failure to fire... it isn't like they decided that hair pulling would help stress. Most know it won't help and can't stop anyway.

the way to stop it is through methods of specialized desensitization to the triggers that provoke the behaviours...

i know personally i have endured negative and even painful results to complete a compulsion. The hard wiring of the brain does not respond to the negative input in the same way it might otherwise... if it did then we could just stop because we already know it doesn't make logical sense.

i like the putty idea but if one is in ERP therapy you have to avoid using what are called corrective behaviours... which essentially means you have to not substitute one behaviour for another. i don't know if erp is used in trich or not..

What do you mean by "methods of specialized desensitization" - ? Curious about these methods...

greyandgrisly ...

You wrote:

"What do you mean by "methods of specialized desensitization" - ? Curious about these methods..."

I think that they are referring to what is known as CBT or "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy".


01. An article on CBT via Wikipedia can be viewed here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogniti...vioral_therapy


02. And an article on "Systematic Desensitization" can be found here via Wikipedia as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematic_desensitization



I hope this was of some help to you.

Take care,

-vertebrae-

Hi, Questions, what a great friend you are thinking of how to help yours. Interesting idea to try and use little shocks. Sometimes trichotillomania can be helped with medicine or various types of psychotherapy, you might suggest your friend tell his parents, ask to see his doctor or a therapist for help if he doesn't want to try your idea or does but it doesn't help:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tri...ents-and-drugs

My dad told me that he used to have some sort of bad habit and when he caught himself doing it he would snap a rubber-band on his wrist. However I would assume that because it was more of a habit than a compulsion, it probably won't be as effective. Good idea though - way to apply the things you learn in class to real-life situations!