Split Ends

Lately I have found myself peeling my split ends. I know this is unhealthy (though I have not quite figured out why). I'm also not diagnosed with dermatillomania or trichotillomania. I've always been a skin picker, since a child, and have numerous scars. I still do it today BUT T believes its more of an anxiety/eczema created habit as opposed to an ocd related thing. I've been particularly stressed this last week and have become obsessed with cutting and peeling my split ends. I've actually gotten quite comfortable with just chopping off my ends all together. It's usually random and impulsive, and although I have long hair, people have noticed. They ask if i've cut my hair (and i tell them i did, but not methodically and i'm definitely not trained). I have a paper worth 40% of my grade due tonight and i've spent the last almost hour picking at my hair. I've noticed light piles of hair, nothing more than if I comb it out though, just from picking it. Is this something I should speak to T about or just a phase. I have a tool to keep my hands busy from picking, but I don't use it like I should because theres more reward in picking. I did, however, purchase some split end serum to hopefully help. Ideas on how to curb this? I'm sure its temporary.

Note: Pulling it up in a bun doesnt help because if I can't get the hair, I just pull it down again.

Hello tealBumblebee: The Skeezyks' experience has been that it can be difficult to break oneself of this sort of thing. (I suspect you already know that.) I don't really have any suggestions for you here. I would suggest talking with your T about it. The reality may be that there's nothing your T can do to help you curb this habit. But it's an aspect of your overall mental health condition at the present time. So it's worth bringing up, it seems to me. Perhaps this is simply a sign that you're under a lot of stress at the moment. And if, or when, you can get your stress level down this behavior may disappear on it's own. Hope you got your paper done.

When I get very stressed I often start cutting on my hair and in the past went from but length to chin length over a few months from cutting my own hair. Then I would realize what I did and freak out and have a nervous breakdown (I think the cutting of my hair is a sign that my illness (Bipolar, Anxiety, PTSD) is flairing. I get an urge to cut and color and do all kinds of things when starting an episode. As you are avoiding studying to do this activity I do believe it could very well be a stress reliever for you and a coping mechanism. If you don't mind and think you would never mind being bald them continuing to pick at your hair will have no consequences....but if you do care and cannot stop them you will end up with that long hair that I'm sure took years to grow gone. (((Hugs)))

Thanks/good to know guys! T emailed me and I actually forgot to mention the hair thing, lol. I did end up going to get my hair cut that next day because I had to work on something else important and knew I wouldn't be able to do it if I didn't address my hair. She took off a few inches (nothing extreme), and showed me where I had cut pieces an inch or so in difference throughout the back. She was very nice about it though and agreed I needed to get it cut, lol.

I think it really is a stress reaction, but so far the cut has helped. With the cut, pulling it up makes it hard to actually bring around to the front of my face so its difficult to pick at it. I did tell T that I knew I should probably be arranging an appointment, but I really don't have time. (working on 3 papers tonight so I have the next two days free to work on a bigger paper )

And yes, Skeezyks, I got the paper done haha. Hopefully it will disappear; no ElsaMars, I would prefer not to be bald lol...being so busy and overwhelmed, I have definitely not been taking my meds (ssri + mood stabilizer) at all, so it could very well be my illness flaring. I need to focus on getting back on them.

Thanks guys, hopefully this cut helps . Its definitely been harder to get to the ends like I was, which causes me a headache (from looking so hard), so thats a new deterrent lol...

I have been obsessed with picking my split ends since I was 10-11 years old. I have always had bad hair but in the early 80's, it was in fashion to wear hair long with big bangs. I loved the multi-splitters where a strand has 5+ peelies that pull away from the hair shaft at the end (oh boy! which two peelies do I grab with my fingernails and peel apart all the way up the shaft! The satisfaction almost feels like a compulsive perversion. By high school, I was fully into the white dots that when you pulled on the end, it was as if you could hear a "bink!" sound effect. Wherever I drove and parked, I would maximize having the front of the car facing the sun so I could see the white dots stand out and go after them one by one. It was excrutiating to ever reach a stopping point. More remarkable was the peace and comfort it gave me to take another 5 min time out in my day for "quality time between my dry hair and myself." I had a girlfriend in high school who insisted on growing her thick hair down to her waist. It was a bit puffy toward the ends and that's where I couldn't help seeing white dots from the other side of a table, or just sitting next to her in a car. I would say to her, "oh! I see a 5-splitter, don't move!" ... as I would reach over to grab it while asking "please let me peel it," she would get annoyed and say no way. It would compel me to literally beg to peel at least 3 of her split ends - WTF? I feel like this has to be a true sickness but god, does it pacify me! I have dropped the habit in the past few years because I keep my hair at shoulder length and it's too hard to pull a cluster of hair in front of my face to look for those fabulous and irresistible white dots!