Can't stop pulling my hair out. Desperate for alternative.

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Not sure why it's happening but I didn't pull when I was younger but did things like bite nails, rub my wrist on things, pet my dog/cat obsessively...but now that I am on a computer (right handed) and not biting nails anymore-I began to pull at a couple spots on my head. Repeatedly, over and over, and then pulling out certain more wiry hairs (curly, coarse hair). It's soothing, and it's embarassing, because after I have a lot of embarassment and shame but I tend to want to do it for hours....a lot is if I have to focus on something, read, intently figuring something out in my head , it sort of reduces anxiety for me. But, now it's noticeable. Allt he little hairs growing in, and a patch at the back that ugh, looking bald. I have to cover it with more/other hair, lol. And at the front where I have breakage...I want to pull them all. wtf! Sometimes I rather just sit and do this and zone out and feel all dozy spacey instead of having to be exhausted with real life.

I've resorted to putting a hair wrap (like bandana) over my head almost allt he time. It does help a bit but my body searches for something else to self-soothe I guess you could say and I need a replacement. Anytime I'm angry, or frustrated, or overwhelmed I do it too. I have tried wearing gloves if I remember but a bit of me really doesn't want to put them on b ecause I LIKE it at the time. But then I feel sad after and embarassed.

Any ideas what I can do? It's mostly my left hand doing it if that helps.

Try to occupy your hands with something else, I have heard that some selfharmers are encouraged to crush or do something with ice as an alternative to harming themselves. I have no idea how well it works as a means of reducing self harm.

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Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

I peel the skin off my big toe. I do this and I find it relaxing, it might seem gross but no one will notice, I've been doing it ever since I was 8 years old, I don't know why but I feel really satisfied when I get a big chunk off. Sometimes I bleed a little bit, but I have to do it every week or so, I can feel the skin is too thick. Nobody has noticed it really and I've been doing it for like 17 years. I usually do it when I zone out like biting my nails. The skin is too thick on my toe, I've got to shave some of it off. I've also realized the longer I leave it be the more satisfying it is when I do it. Sometimes more than a month passes by. It's really a hygenic thing like cutting your toenails.

try to fight the thoughts, i know its really nearly impossible but sometimes it can work.
Instead of pulling your actual hair out, maybe grab a big chunk and pull it but not as hard so you cant actually pull it out, just get the feeling of it being pulled..
I get urges that are hard to fight off, like pressing my fingernails a certain way until they cause a weird sensation/pain and i get these horrible urges to pull my lips off. I know it sounds horrible and i never do these things, but i know the urge to can be scary because it's hard to fight.

used to have trich as well, and had made a right patch on head that is still visible today.

is there any stress or changes in life that can think of at the moment? anything different to the norm happen? it was stress that caused mine and the cure was to end up in a better residential centre,have needs met and be understood,have patient support staff and specialists,have a stable placement where was not moved from for four years.
one way to break the cycle coud be to have short nails and very short hair,mine is always a 'number nought' shave due to sensory reasons and the daily use of a padded helmet.
have been weak and tempted to 'go trich' on mine the odd time but end up giving up when realise its getting no where.

for females who were sensitive to how they may appear there are people like sineade o connor who made shaven hair fashionable on women.

there is nothing to be embarassed about,everyone deals with things in different ways, some ways are just more socialy acceptable than others.

I am 31 and have been pulling out my hair since childhood. I started with my eyelashes and moved to the middle of the day

I find that playing with a pen helps me. I run the clip part of it under my nails repeatedly. It helps to keep me centered until I can go and do my more embarrassing ritualistic stuff like digging nails into an arm or pulling at hair. If I do the pen thing often enough, I find that I don't need the others unless I am extremely anxious about something.

Did you tried behavioral therapy or medication?

Obsessive bahaviors like that are very difficult to stop. If you couldn't do it by your own even though you tried, you deffinetly need the help from an expert.