Trichotillomania is a combination of psychological disorder and habitual behaviour causing the hair loss most likely surfacing when people are bored or conducting non-physical activities such as reading or watching TV.
The act of pulling hair gives the sufferer:
- A good feeling
- A sense of achievement
- A sense of control
- A sense of tension increasing immediately prior to the act of pulling out the hair or when trying to resist the hair pulling behaviour
The true causes of trichotillomania is not definitively known and no one can precisely pinpoint why this disorder emerges. There are however a lot of possible reasons that have been postulated as to the cause of this disorder:
- genetic makeup
- traumatic psychological or physical experience as a baby or young child
- chemical imbalances in the brain
- medical conditions affecting the nervous system
- stressful environments
