Trichotillomania affects a lot of kids; conservative estimates place it between 0.6% and 2.5% of children, although the actual number is probably much higher. More important than the prevalence of trichotillomania in our children is the impact that trichotillomania can have on their lives.
Trichotillomania can cause a great deal of distress in children and adolescents which can impeded their participation in social and academic development. Part of this distress is because children that pull their hair out typically look noticeably different than their peers having missing patches of hair and/or missing or partial eyebrows or eyelashes. This can cause other kids to avoid them and lower a child with trichotillomania’s self-esteem.
This can also lead to taunting or bullying which can lead to anger, anxiety, embarrassment or shame in a child if not dealt with effectively. Very often, kids with trichotillomania begin to pull back from social activities and have less and less interaction with other kids; this can severely limit their social development and can progress into varying states of loneliness and depression.
Family distress is also very common as most parents are ill equipped to help their children with trichotillomania and don’t know how to help them stop pulling. Many parents tell their kids to “just stop pulling” thinking that the urge to pull is somehow under their child’s conscious control. This often leads to frustration when their children make no or little progress in reducing their pulling behavior and/or begin to deny that they are pulling. This usually further alienates the child, leaving them feeling there is something wrong with them and/or that somehow they are defective in some way.
We have found that the urge to pull is almost always caused by an imbalance in certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. The causes of these imbalances vary from person to person, but the end result is that the brain sends the wrong signals; in the case of trichotillomania, it increases the urge to pull and may even promote a sense of relaxation or pleasure during and after pulling. Willpower is no match for brain chemistry – you can tell yourself not to pull all you want, but if your brain is sending the wrong signals, you will eventually have to give in.
The solution is to give the body the nutrients it needs to restore proper neurotransmitter function. Doing so allows the brain to once again send the correct signals, which will substantially decrease and often eliminate the urges to pull.
Children with trichotillomania can stop pulling, but not just because they want to. They need help. We’ve worked with thousands of people all over the world to help them rebalance their neurotransmitter function and eliminate the urge to pull. Please contact us for more information and to get started!
