Trichotillomania is a mental health disorder where the affected individuals
- repeatedly pull out hair from any part of their body (e.g. scalp, eyebrow, eyelash)
and
- are unable to stop themselves from doing so (uncontrollable)
The common obvious impact for the affected individuals is having patchy bald spots and significant hair loss, leading to distress from the negative change in their physical appearance. Trichotillomania can affect both men and women of all ages. The hair-pulling behaviours are often related and in response to stress from school, work, family or social aspects of the individual's life.
Difficulties in stopping the hair-pulling behaviours can result in irreversible hair loss, and likely to improve without adequate treatment. Affected individuals may also engage in other repeated and uncontrollable behaviours such as skin-picking and nail-biting.