Trichotillomania

Mental Health and Wellness Clinics located in Hagerstown and Frederick, MD

Trichotillomania services offered in Hagerstown and Frederick, MD

If you find yourself pulling out your hair for no known reason, you may have trichotillomania. At Sage Mental Wellness, Audra Worthington, MSN, PMHNP-BC, and Tammy Lewis, PMHNP-BC, offer specialized treatment when you’re suffering from trichotillomania. Located in Frederick and Hagerstown, Maryland, the practice provides natural and modern treatments for mental health conditions like trichotillomania. To learn more about this disorder, call one of the offices today to book an appointment or schedule a consultation on the website.


Trichotillomania Q & A

What is trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania is a disorder that causes you to repeatedly pull out your own hair. It’s in a group of behavioral disorders known as body-focused repetitive behaviors. 

This condition usually happens around puberty or in the later stages of childhood. At this time, both boys and girls are equally affected. However, when trichotillomania occurs in adulthood, women are affected much more than men.

Trichotillomania is technically classified as an obsessive compulsive type disorder. Severe forms of this condition negatively affect your self-esteem and mental health.

 

What are the symptoms of trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania goes along with other issues like biting your nails or your lips. The main symptom of this disorder is pulling your hair out from your scalp and face. It often leads to other symptoms too, which include:

  • Biting or eating your hair
  • A feeling of pleasure with pulling out hair
  • Pulling your hair out and playing with it
  • Tension or stress before pulling the hair
  • Mental distress in social situations
  • Noticeable areas of missing hair on the face and scalp

When you have trichotillomania, you may try to stop pulling out your hair. However, this condition often prevents you from successfully stopping these symptoms on your own. 

This issue is usually performed in private when only you know you’re pulling out your hair. In your mind, this helps you hide the fact that you have trichotillomania.

 

How is trichotillomania managed?

When you’re suffering from trichotillomania, it’s essential to seek help. The team at Sage Mental Wellness provides you with several successful treatments for this disorder.

Your provider may prescribe medications to treat trichotillomania, including antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants. These often help you deal with the reasons behind pulling your hair out.

While medications do help this disorder, they’re often combined with some type of therapy to enhance the results. Habit reversal therapy is one of the most successful treatments in changing the behaviors related to trichotillomania.

This form of therapy teaches you to be more cognizant of your hair-pulling. When you’re more aware, you’re more likely to break your hair-pulling habit.

To schedule a consultation with the team at Sage Mental Wellness, call one of the conveniently located offices in Maryland today. You can also book a consultation on the website.