Leeds Mum Who Pulls Her Hair Out Wants More Awareness
A Leeds mum is raising awareness of a rare condition - which causes her to pull her hair out - to help others who might not know about it.
Trichotillomania is a condition which causes sufferers to pull their hair out. It is a form of OCD, which Sarah Strelley says is isolating - as she feels there are no support groups in Leeds.
For Sarah it started a year ago, when the school that her children go to said there was an outbreak of head lice. The parents were asked to keep an eye on their children’s hair and treat them if they found any lice. Sarah said:
‘The school told me that there was a case of head lice going around. I’ve got a fear of head lice. I kept thinking about the head lice and kept checking my hair. The first bit (of hair) came out and then I actually liked it and it all started from there.’
Sarah is 29-years-old and lives in Middleton with her three children. She’s been to her GP - who she says told her to sit on her hands and prescribed her anti-depressants.
She feels there’s little awareness of trichotillomania and she thinks even doctors don’t know what to do with her. Her family struggle to understand why she does it and Sarah is now hoping to raise awareness and encourage others to come forward and share their experiences.
‘My family don’t understand why I do it, they’ve never heard of it, so they’re stressing out and it is obviously then stressing me out. Because no one knows about it there could be families out there that there kids are doing it or the adults are doing it and not going to the doctors.’
There’s no cure for trichotillomania and it isn't known what causes it. Some research says it could be a form of anxiety as it relieves stress. When a hair strand is pulled out it can release endorphins which the person becomes addicted to and then continues - until there’s no hair left.
Figures show it affects 4 out of every 100 people, which is the same as anorexia - but it has nowhere near as much awareness.
Phyllis Ourique is a Hair Replacement Trichology expert at Hairdoll in Wakefield. She’s been helping people with trichotillomania for over 5 years:
‘It gets into a vicious cycle, the more damage they do and the more hair they pull out, the more stress it causes and then because they’re stressed, they go back and pull more hair out.’
‘Sometimes when they do try to conceal it cosmetically, they’re not looking at the damage that they have done and I think sometimes that can help enormously.’
‘It’s a taboo area, there’s not much research that goes into this. People are embarrassed to talk about it. I know ladies that their children and family have no idea they do this and they wear a wig.’
It can start in childhood, but Phyllis says it can’t be just associated with people from troubled backgrounds; it should be treated as an addiction that can affect anyone:
‘I see people who have come from all walks of life; these were children that were extremely happy. They didn’t come from a traumatised home or have anxiety. They themselves don’t understand why they went on to pull their hair - which makes me think it is an addiction.’
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