Talk:Trichotillomania

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[edit] older entries

The entry on treatment needs some cleaning up. The intro doesn't make sense and there are numerous grammatical errors. Vadel

"Trichotillomania is a disorder that manifests in the compulsive urge to pull or pluck one's hair to any significant degree from one or serveral parts of one's body. The term "trichotillomania" is derived from the Greek words for hair (thrix), to pull out (tillein), and mania and was coined in 1889 by a French dermatologist named Hallepeau. The underlying cause is often stress where the hair pulling is a cognitive distraction as a coping response.

One publicized example of acute trichotillomania was when 18-month-old Jessica McClure pulled out much of her scalp hair while awaiting rescue."

-- taken from the Trichotillomannia article, which I redirected here. Should be merged in at some point. Tenbaset 09:30, 18 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] image

I removed this image tag from the top of the article: "

Image:Trichotillomanie kopf hinten.jpg
Trichotillomania in a young woman

". It bluelinks, but there is no image there. Herostratus 11:38, 8 January 2006 (UTC)


User 65.247.229.183 said "Removed picture of plucked pubic area until appropriatness is discussed" The older image that was here before was definitally better. The image that was removed recentlly I think fits per Wikipedia:Profanity. It's a fine line though. Maybe we keep that image up until a better one an be found? Lyo 12:15, 8 May 2006 (UTC)


Since no one has objected to putting the image back until something better is found I am going to put the image back. Lyo 12:29, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

the image is to totally inappropriate if no warning is given abou the image, i think it should be taken out. this is wikipedia not newgrounds User:Zergkiller2255 9:43, 13 May 2006 (PST)

[edit] From the affected

As one who HAS the problem, I'd like to just ask if there's actually a cure besides the ones mentioned here. I'd like opinions from other people who have it, too.

Also, I think we should change a few things on the article itself, as we know why we do it (or at least most of us do). Well, for one thing, I should know: It sure isn't connected to self harm or OCD.User:Eric55673

It may not be personally connected to self harm or ocd for you but it is for other people [1] Lyo 00:29, 6 June 2006 (UTC)


Sure comes from OCD here, if wanted (XD) reasons include hair in slightly red follicles, ingrown hairs(normally curling in a half loop), smaller broken stubs from previous sessions, hair embedded in or connected with blackheads, and black(like jet black) hairs. For some reason the black hairs seem to come out with little to none resistance when pulled, no pain for the most part, unlike whiter or clear "normal" hairs which are stuck in, break more easily, cause pain normally. A lot of the time they have this little round black thing on the end(that the root?), sometimes underneath they have a small stringy paleish substance sorta like a mix between skin,pus, and silly string about the size of "---" (inside that quote). Btw Lyo your link died, I think we should keep the images in a reference note(kinda freaky), and of all the insanities I got, why this one? Why not pyro, or cannibal, or even gibbering hobo? 69.251.251.2 (talk) 03:57, 2 June 2008 (UTC)Anyomous 11:55:03 1 June 2008 (GMT) Eastern Us/Candadia time(hey 2 year anniversary of Lyos,shweet) <.< X.X sorry I tried, the information is more important right?

[edit] Contradiction here:

Prozac and other similar drugs, which some professionals prescribe on a one-size-fits-all basis, tend to have limited usefulness in treating TTM, and can often have significant side effects.

And:

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly used in the treatment of trichotillomania. Antidepressants have been shown to be effective in treating both Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and trichotillomania.

Which is true?

the latter is true. anafranil has been clinically proven to be effective in treating trichotillomania. i'll try to find my references. --larz 09:21, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Good luck! The research to date is still far too limited for this statement. SSRI's ( and other drugs) have so far shown to be far less effective in treating trich than for OCD and of short term use in some cases only, mainly effective to assist during therapy. For a good overview have a look at Dr Carol Novak's conference notes on Medications in Trichotillomania here: http://home.intekom.com/jly2/ttmmeds.htm

ruthcrh

[edit] Britney Spears

Worth a mention here? Does this extend to include the desire for head-shaving? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by HisSpaceResearch (talk • contribs) 14:37, 24 February 2007 (UTC).

Head shaving is not linked with Trichotillomania. Head shaving is a haircut than an ocd.86.138.223.251 10:34, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, we're not that brand of crazy... ;) But seriously compulsive grooming can be an OCD. Not that I think that's what she was up to.

No one has ever said that she may have trichotillomania. But some sufferers cut/shave their hair to avoid pulling.--Asjkfdsl 16:44, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Beneficial treatment

The most beneficial avenues of treatment available to sufferers thus far have been:

A. A food restrictive diet (such as the John Kender Diet)which requires the elimination of certain foods from the daily menu, including but not limited to most, if not all, forms of sugar (including honey), caffeine, legumes, some nuts, several fruits (fresh and particularly, dried fruit), artificial sweeteners (perhaps with the exception of stevia), etc.. There's a link to other possible foods below. Actual foods to avoid depend on the experimentation of the sufferer.

B. Behavioral techniques such as relaxation response, adequate sleep and exercise, and replacement behavior, such as hair-brushing or other activities involving the hands.

Websites worth reviewing:

http://home.intekom.com/jly2/ttmdiet.htm

http://home.intekom.com/jly2/indexp1.html

http://soul4ce.home.texas.net/index.htm

http://www.trichotillomania.info/

67.80.75.211 21:12, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, I'd like to see some kind of clinical study or research before people start promoting their own "trich diets". Anecdotal "I think this diet is great" statements aren't enough. Where's the science? Famousdog 15:52, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Famousdog is right. Not much scientific research is being done on this ailment. Psychology and psychiatry are questionable fields without biological or chemical research science to back them up, so when I wrote the above comment I figured adding it was at least as valid as having what's already on the page regarding "treatment". I'm not connected to the webpages nor to the people who provided the diet but they point to a popular alternative not yet mentioned. I'd like to see some studies too. But until there is valid medical research on this ailment, adhering to a diet that restricts sugar and caffeine is, thankfully, neither strange nor harmful. It has quelled this ailment and made a remarkable difference in my life as well as those of others in cases where pharmaceuticals have not proven to do the same.Switchboard27 19:13, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Glad you think I'm right, but I take issue with your unsubstantiated and prejudiced assertion that "Psychology and psychiatry are questionable fields without biological or chemical research science to back them up." What utter bullsh*t! Have you been getting your 'facts' from Tom Cruise? Famousdog 14:00, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Your disparaging remarks notwithstanding, you can take issue with my assertion if you like. If the treatment claims in the article are based on those two fields being regarded as "sciences", then I'll keep my predjudice. If pills will do you for other conditions, that's fantastic. I'm not a scientologist, I'm a scientist and I hope one day soon someone will do some real medical research on the treatment of this ailment. So far it's severely lacking.Switchboard27 13:22, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

I think you might want to include something about the fact that some people believe that diet, sleep, stress-management, etc, effects it. It's not unencyclopedic to state that people have unsubstansiated theories as to what works. Actually, stating that such theories exist and ARE UNSUBSTANSIATED would be quite encyclopedic... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.100.203.208 (talk) 05:43, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] i have an issue with this

"Eyelashes have been reported to grow back thinner or in much lesser amounts." One, this doesn't have a citation. Two, from personal experience, after pulling out all my lashes, it takes 2 months for the lashes to grow back, but they do all grow back, just as long and thick as they were before. The first 6 weeks, there is no noticable growth, but after that it only takes about 2 weeks for them all to grow back in. The problem is that the growing in process is very itchy and irritating, and most trichsters(a word i made up, pretty cool eh?) can't stand it so they pull them out as fast as they grow in. I am a cyclic stress puller, so I end up pulling all of my lashes out about 4 times a year. 1 have been doing this for about 6 years and they have always grown back. So anyway. This claim bothers me, and I think it should go away.

Its been tagged for a while, so I'll get rid of it and wait for somebody to protest. Famousdog 21:48, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Hey dog, Trichster is a word the Trichotillomania Learning Center has been using for YEARS. Good try though. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mmoydell (talk • contribs) 03:10, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sources

It has been stated that we need to cite sources. Problem is, there aren't many out there, and some of them are sources that have been verbalized to us (Wiki editors). What should we do? --Asjkfdsl 16:47, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

Actually, there is a lot of information out there and a lot of it is open access. Try Google scholar (although be careful as GS takes an inclusive attitude to scholarly publications and some sources it throws up are pretty dodgy). If you can't find a source for some assestion, then it shouldn't be on this page as it might hurt somebody's chances of recovery. Famousdog 14:13, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hair regrowth

Taken from characteristics: "Prolonged pulling may affect hair pigment, resulting in white hair regrowth. Permanent hairloss (traction alopecia) has been reported from extensive pulling."

I believe the white hair regrowth was mixed up with traction alopecia, which happens to be an autoimmune disease and cannot be caused by extensive pulling. Unless I'm wrong, in which case source and put back in the article. Absentis 02:30, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

You're probably right; I wouldn't count on anything that isn't sourced to peer-reviewed literature to be accurate here. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:32, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Medications For Treating Trichotillomania

I've removed the following content which was added to the wrong place, is not written in encyclopedic tone, and is not sourced to a reliable source. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 04:09, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Certain medications are considered for treating trichotillomania. However, it is interesting to know that although medications may assist people to stop pulling one’s hair, the effect is just temporary. There is a great chance for the symptoms of this disorder to reappear. In this case, a behavioral therapy is still deemed necessary. According to some experts, the therapy should be incorporated into the medication treatment.

Here are few of those commonly advised medications for trichotillomania:

Valproate (Depakote) Lithium Carbonate (Eskalith, Lithobid) Paroxetine (Paxil) Fluoxetine (Prozac) Sertraline (Zoloft) Fluvoxamine (Luvox) Clomipramine (Anafranil)

  • Paroxetine(Seroxat) is useless in treating trichotillomania, it does wonderful job on depression and OCD(take 2 pills for OCD and 1 for depression) but not for this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 132.206.33.125 (talk) 22:25, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hypotherapy content removed

I removed the following content for discussion:

Hypnotherapy, coupled with neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) techniques, has also proven successful in treating trichotillomania. A hypnotherapist can help the patient to regain the confidence and control they need to overcome the hair pulling obsession.[1]

The source cited does not say that hyponotherapy has proven successful in treating trich, nor would this sort of source prove such an assertion. Proof that hypnotherapy successfully treats trichotillomania would need to come from controlled published blinded studies, not a newspaper account of one person's anecdotal claims. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:47, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Characteristics

As one with Tourette's (and OCD), I find it both offensive and incorrect to lump a GENETIC disorder like TS with "impulse control disorders" like body dysmorphic disorder and, especially, kleptomania. The kleptomania page doesn't mention "genetic", and the TS page doesn't mention "impulse". TS does NOT involve "impulse control" unless you consider having an itch that needs scratching an 'impulse' (and an 'itch' is exactly what the urge to 'tic' feels like, NOT having a DESIRE to go steal something). While it's possible (speaking *strictly* from my personal experience living with both TS and OCD) there is an OCD-based component involved in all these disorders, to imply kleptomania and TS are closely related, without a specific citation, has NO place in Wikipedia. --Grndrush (talk) 05:51, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

  • There is a citation suggesting this link has been questioned, which does in itself suggest the link exists (in the eyes of some researchers)Caissa's DeathAngel (talk) 06:26, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] External links

I have removed the external links on this page, wikipedia is not the medium with which to promote support groups. The removed links are below and should only be re-instated if the general consensus on this talk page proves that they are not in violation of WP:EL.

Jdrewitt (talk) 18:23, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

I concur that the support groups shouldn't have been there, but have restored the DMOZ and psychiatric times, per WP:EL, WP:NOT and WP:MEDMOS. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:56, 16 April 2008 (UTC)