Mental Disorders: Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania When society hears the words mental disorder, the first thing that pops into their minds is Schizophrenia or Bipolar. One disorder that you may not have heard about is Trichotillomania. Trichotillomania, defined by Dorland 's Illustrated Medical Dictionary is “ A morbid impulse to pull out one’s own hair; trichologia”, (Saunders, W.B, pg 1395). This is a long-term disorder that affects young and old, however, in adults it tends to affect more women than men. With proper care and treatments this disorder can be minimized but will never be cured.

People with this disorder pull their hair from their scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, and other places on their body. Anxiety Coach.com states “People focus on one part of their hair

I asked my dad if he thought people with this disorder are too afraid and ashamed to tell people that they pull their hair out because of a disorder they have, his response was ”I think they are afraid because it causes too much attention and more anxiety” (Walkup, Shane, 11, Dec 2015). That is why I am too scared to tell anybody about having Trichotillomania. I feel like if I tell people at school or ballet they would think less of me or think that I am broken. If I tell people they could make fun of me and I do not want that to happen because it will cause more stress.. I cannot say that people with this disorder think the same as I do. I feel like they are also scared to tell people in society because they would alienate them or make fun of them. If people find out someone has this disorder their anxiety could rise and this could cause them to look for other ways of dealing with their anxiety, such as self-mutilation. Even though it doesn’t sound all that much like a mental disorder, it actually is. Doctors and scientist have not found a real way to determine why people with this disorder pull their hair. What they found out was it could cause from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Abnormalities in the natural brain chemicals, serotonin and dopamine, may play a role in Trichotillomania. There are some risk factors with Trichotillomania, it is genetic

When society hears that it’s a mental disorder they instantly think we are crazy. When in reality, we are more afraid of society finding out our secret, then society is of our