Trichotillomania (TTM)

00:01 Here's a quick overview of trichotillomania.

00:04 This is present in about 1-3% of the population, occurring more often in women than men, and the onset usually is in childhood or adolescence, and it's frequently associated with a stressful event. The diagnostic criteria include recurrent pulling out of one's hair including visible hair loss, repeated attempts to stop pulling hair, hair pulling causes clinical distress that is significant to the patient, and hair pulling is not due to any other medical condition such as any kind of dermatological problem that would result in somebody wanting to pull their hair out, and it's also not due to any other mental disorder.

00:46 The treatments you want to consider for this will include in terms of medications, SSRIs, antipsychotics, and possibly even a mood stabilizer such as lithium.

00:57 You also wanna focus on therapy in terms of behavioral and talk therapy.

01:04 Hypnosis can be useful and so can relaxation techniques, and behavioral therapy is vital so you can substitute a healthier behavior for the hair pulling.

01:14 Here's an important note. Hair pulling in patients with trichotillomania is entirely unconscious so it's not something they're aware of but they do become very distressed by the effects of it. That's your overview on trichotillomania, yet another impulse control disorder.