October is very widely recognized as Breast Cancer Awareness month, but many of the people I meet are unaware that this first week of October also marks Trichotillomania Awareness Week. Unlike Breast Cancer many people do not know what Tricotillomania is or that it affects 1 out of 50 people.
Tag: help me 2 stop
Ask Jeffrey – “What Will He Feel If He Touches My Wig?”
I had the opportunity to write an article for Help Me 2 Stop, an organization working to bridge the gap between Trichotillomania suffers and salon professionals, and I want to share this article with my blog followers because I feel like every woman experiencing hair loss may have these same questions.
There are many special holidays and events that can be a time when many women experiencing hair loss want to hide away and not celebrate with that special someone. You ask yourself, “will he notice that I’m wearing a hairpiece,” “what will he feel when they touch my wig,” “what will his reaction be if I tell them I’m wearing a wig?”
These are all questions we contemplate each day we walk out of our homes and into a world where others never think of these things. But there are things you can do to build confidence in yourself and confidence in your true beauty.
What is Trichotillomania?
Did you ever have a secret that you kept to yourself? A secret so private that if anyone found out you would be horrified? For many, the answer is yes.
Trichotillomania or compulsive hair pulling can be one of those secrets. My friend, Amy Burzinski, works with individuals suffering from Trichotillomania and she gave us some insight into the disorder.
Trichotillomania (TTM or “Trich”) is a disorder that causes people to pull out the hair from their scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows, or any other parts of the body, resulting in noticeable bald patches. Trichotillomania is a type of body focused repetitive behavior or BFRB for short. People who have trich will describe a strong “urge” to pull. The urge can be so strong that it can almost feel like an attack- unrelenting and demanding attention before anything else can be done.