Why do people pull out their hair?

Although researchers are not completely sure why people pull out their hair, the following is a list of the most commonly reported reasons for hair pulling. Currently, researchers are studying how these factors impact the disorder. Probably the most unique thing about trichotillomania and certainly what makes it a very difficult phenomenon to study, is that it seems to be experienced differently by each person. Regardless of the fact that all people who have trich pull hair, each person experiences trich in a somewhat unique way. Common reasons for pulling are as follows:

• To help regulate the nervous system- to help you feel energized when you are tired or bored, or to help you feel calm when you are stressed or tense.
  
• Likely some biological/chemical/genetic component.
  
• To get rid of irregularities: thick, coarse, curly, short, split, or gray hair.
  
• To achieve symmetry (usually for eyelashes/eyebrows).
  
• To address a blemish (many people believe that if they pull the right hair out of a blemish, it will cause the blemish to drain and then to heal).
  
• To get the root (look at it, play with it, bite it, eat it)
  
• Because of a physical sensation on the skin (itching/tingling/pressure).
  
• To reduce tension or other negative feelings or distraction from negative emotions.
  
• To increase positive feelings (excitement/happiness/relaxation).
  
• Because of a belief that some task can't be accomplished without pulling.

Despite the individual differences between people with trich, what all people with trichotillomania have in common is that hair pulling serves a function in their lives. The key is to discover what function trich serves in your life. StopPulling.com is designed to help you to figure this out, and to offer specific coping strategies that will help you based on how trich works for you.