trichotillomania study- I might get to participate!! !

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I am super excited! I found a tiny ad in the paper looking for people to participate in a study re: hair-pulling! And no drugs are involved. I thought, people might help me get rid of a very bad lifelong habit? And they will even pay me for my troubles? And no medications?? I meet all the qualifications in the little ad, so once the guy calls me back I'll see if I can do it...Wahoo!!1!! !!

Last edited by riverotter on 13 Apr 2009, 10:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

There's a word for that? Learn something new every day!

Now if only they had one for finger/hand biting.

A fancy word? Or a (possibly helpful) study?

good luck to you.

i've learned to embrace it. it saves me from having to shave.

LOL
The problem is that others don't embrace it. It's kind of grotesque- I do it in public when I am stressed or bored.

Become a mud wrestler - then it will be perfectly acceptable - people will cheer you for it!

Oh, wait...that went out with the 80s, didn't it?

Never mind.

Dactylimastichomania is my guess.

good luck

You have to tell us how it goes

Also, if/when they publish results, make sure you get a copy. It could be really interesting.

I hope it's helpful!

I have to comment to say trichotillomania is one of the best words ever. Psychiatry has some great words.

I left a VM yesterday...the study lead left me a VM...I called back early today, and he has not returned my call as of yet (she said, pulling out hairs) Must. Have. Patience.
Good idea, Callista!
And yes, it is a fantastic word. Fun to write, type, say, and just look at.

Update- didn't qualify for the study, based on severity, but they offered me free psychotherapy. I blogged about it...WordSprite (psych posts).

is it like a local study?

what do they class as severe trichowhatsit... then,or were they saying have it too severely?

Am used to live with a prof/autistic who had it,and she could pull the lot out with no problem if no body stopped her.

i used to have it when i was around 11-12. pulled a half-dollar sized bald spot right on top of my head, and when there was no hair, i started on the skin until it bled. no wonder the kids used to call me scum. hell, half of them probably drove me to it, though. back then (circa 1980), no one had a name or any psychological connections to it, and my parents didn't care anyway.

Maggiedoll-It is at a university in my city, since they have a TTM specialty clinic. Sometimes "local" studies are part of national studies- you can get on mailing lists- I used to be on a mailing list for asthma studies, and they would notify me if one was coming up. But I believe this one is particular to this locale.

Kingdom of Rats- they said I do not have it severely enough at this time. I used to have it worse and pulled out much of the hair around my forehead and temples- not bald spots but greatly thinned large areas. I don't do it so badly anymore. I can blame it years of tight ponytails and barrettes. Not true but, plausible.

Subliculous- the skin picking for me was bad too around that age. I used to close myself in the bathroom for hours in front of the mirror, squeezing pimples and blackheads that I had in abundance. My skin would be so red, bleeding, and scabby, but for some reason it made me feel better, more relaxed- I wonder if the psychology/pathology is similar. The "getting rid of" something, despite the pain and alteration of appearance.

It is so freeing to be able to talk about this stuff with others who can relate or at least not judge.