Trichotillomania is a chronic hair-pulling disease that is among impulse control disorders. Due to its similarities with obsessive compulsive disorder, it has been evaluated as one of the obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders. The key element of trichotillomania is when a person pulls out their hair in a way that causes baldness. A tension occurs before the hair is pulled or if the patient is trying to resist the pulling. pleasure, satisfaction and relaxation should occur during the behavior. It usually starts in adolescence. It is 5-10 times more common in females than males during adolescence, and then occurs equally between males and females in early adulthood. Children are accompanied by nail biting, thumb sucking, nose picking, masturbation, school problems, and bad friendships. ii. Studies investigating axis comorbidity have also been performed. schlosser et al. They reported that 14% of trichotillomania patients had obsessive compulsive 27%, schizoid 14%, borderline 14%, avoidant 14%, passive-aggressive 14% and self-defeating personality disorders. Family studies have found an increase in hair pulling and obsessive compulsive disorder in first-degree relatives of trichotillomania cases.
The main clinical feature of trichotillomania is pulling out hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. Less beard, mustache and other body hair can be removed. 75% of the patients pull their hair, 53% their eyelashes, 42% their eyebrows, 8% their children’s hair or eyebrows, 3% their spouse’s or someone else’s hair. While pulling out graying hair gives more pleasure, only 28% of the patients stated that they felt pain while pulling.
Various antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics have been found to be effective in improving symptoms. Psychotherapies are also very effective, even on their own.
