How many of you'll here are 'pullers'?

[Aqua]

The Secret Life of ?Pullers? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An intimate look at a disorder that causes sufferers to yank out their hair. By Cari Shane Parven for MSN Health & Fitness Jennifer Raikes was 9 years old when she started pulling out her eyelashes, one lash at a time. She didn?t pull them out like a nutcase in a B movie, but rather hypnotically until her trance was mysteriously broken. Raikes knew no one else who behaved so bizarrely, but while she hated herself for pulling out her eyelashes?and eventually eyebrows?she was unable to stop. ?I remember being demoralized every day as a kid because I would constantly wake up and say, ?I?m going to stop, I?m going to stop,? and then I?d end up breaking my promises to myself, every day,? says Raikes, 35, who to this day needs to work at controlling her urge to pull. Though she believes she did a good job hiding her disorder (wearing long bangs and dark eyeliner), by the time she was a teenager, she felt alone and depressed. Jane Spelling (not her real name) started pulling out her eyebrows, eyelashes and hair on her legs when she was about 14. ?I remember sitting in my chemistry class at school and pulling out all my eyebrows, I was in a trance.? Spelling started pulling from her head when she was in college after getting a cut on her scalp. Spelling, now 30, still continues to battle with her pulling demons daily. Both Raikes and Spelling suffer from trichotillomania (TTM), a disorder that causes people to pull out their hair, often slowly and methodically, most commonly from their heads, eyebrows and eyelashes. Not surprisingly, the social stigma around the trichotillomania can be intense. Hair pullers go to lengths to hide their bald spots or lash-less eyelids, all the while asking themselves, ?Why do I do this? Why can?t I stop?? Science hasn?t yet been able to provide a clear answer, though recent findings suggests that at least in some cases the cause is biological. New Discoveries, New Questions Trichotillomania usually starts during puberty and affects 3 percent to 5 percent of the world population, though some research suggests it?s a high as 10 percent. But Raikes, an award-winning filmmaker who tackled TTM in her documentary A Bad Hair Life, believes the statistics don?t capture the true scope of the problem. ?It?s really extremely common,? she says. Considering the stigma surrounding the disorder, Raikes says she isn?t sure the statistics match up to the sufferers. When you know where to look, the signs of TTM are everywhere: the little boy at a baseball game with a crew cut and bald spot on the crown of his head, or the woman caught in traffic, rummaging her fingers through her hair then plucking when she thinks no one is watching. Though trichotillomania sufferers try to hide their disorder to avoid being pegged as mentally unbalanced, in late September 2006, researchers at Duke University in Durham, N.C., discovered the first TTM gene. Isolating the gene proves that there is a biological, rather than psychological, basis for the disorder in about 5 percent of cases. ?[it] is not really a large amount, but in terms of understanding, it?s the first gene associated with trich. For pullers it?s as if ?My God, it?s not my fault, there?s a biological reason,? ? says Allison Ashley-Koch, a senior investigator for the study, which will be published in the October 2006 issue of Molecular Psychiatry. ?This is probably a complex genetic disorder,? says Ashley-Koch, who expects to link other genes to TTM in further studies. ?This discovery opens the door to so many more questions.? The Power of the Pull While research on TTM is limited and recent, hair pulling has been around for centuries. By 1889, trichotillomania was given its name; the root from the Greek tillein, meaning ?to pluck hair.? Hair pulling also has been documented in animals. According to psychology professor Doug Woods of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, hair pulling is ?seen in all animal species from feather picking in birds to monkeys who even inspect the hairs after pulling them.? Like monkeys, human pullers have a distinct pulling pattern: First, the fingers rifle through the hair searching for a strand that helps ease the ?ache or itch? on their scalp. Second, the puller plucks the chosen hair hoping for a ?white bulb,? or the follicle, on the end. Third, the puller examines the strand, examines the bulb; some touch the bulb against their lips, some bite the bulb off and chew on it, others chew on the hair. Finally, the hair is discarded and the puller starts the ritual again, in the quest for the perfect hair, the perfect sensation. Many people pull when reading, doing homework or work, watching television, when stressed or bored. Most don?t actually remember thinking about pulling before an episode. They describe the act of rummaging and pulling as comforting while at the same time guilt provoking. This internal tug of war leaves most pullers despondent. The average age of onset is 12 to 13. ?There is probably a genetic vulnerability that opens up during puberty,? says psychologist Woods, who adds guardedly, ?We really don?t know.? As children, boy pullers slightly outnumber girls; in adolescence, girls outnumber boys; as adults, most pullers are women. While the reason for these statistics remains unexplained, young children have the best chance for recovery; teens have a ?guarded? prognosis; adults, a poor one. According to the National Mental Health Association, medications have been shown to help pullers stop, though they are not 100 percent effective. Prozac, Luvox and Zoloft are commonly used for adults, however, symptoms usually return when meds stop. Behavioral therapy appears to be the most powerful tool as pullers learn to track their pulling, increase their awareness of pulling episodes and substitute the pulling behavior for other healthy behaviors. Fearing Exposure As science continues to look for answers and better treatment for this unusual behavior, hair pullers are left to duck and cover through life. ?Pullers feel shame-bound,? says Christina Pearson, executive director of Trichotillomania Learning Center, a California-based nonprofit dedicated to the disorder. ?I am so used to denying it,? says Spelling, ?that I?ve had doctors diagnose me with something and I just play along knowing [that it?s TTM].? Like Spelling, most pullers fear being ?outed? and will often weave a web of untruths to defend the behaviors. For example, ask why they won?t go in the swimming pool, they?ll say they are allergic to chlorine; the truth, wet hair can expose bald spots. Or ask why they steer clear of hair salons, they?ll point out that it?s cheaper to color their hair themselves; the truth, the stylist will have a bird?s eye view of the results of their mania. For sufferers, it?s a turbulent cycle: comfort from pulling, self-berating during and after pulling, scheming to cover up the resulting bald patches. ?It is emotionally exhausting,? says filmmaker Raikes, who has been pulling now for 26 years and wishes there had been more help when she was a child. Part of Trichotillomania Learning Center?s charter is to raise awareness of the disorder, especially so parents will get help for their children when they?re young and treatment is most effective. Toward that end, the center is hosting its first annual Trichotillomania Awareness Week during the first week of October. As part of the national campaign, local TLC chapters will host screenings of A Bad Hair Life. In addition, there is a ?hands-down-a-thon, where pullers can find sponsors to help them reach their daily goal of not touching their hair, or touching it only five times,? says center director Pearson. ?The response to this has been incredible.? (For more information, go to TLC?s Web site.)

[Aqua]

Re: How many of you'll here are 'pullers'? i used to be one... i figured out how to reduce it... keep you hands busy or full... so one will be holding a file, the other my mobile phone!! :wtg:

[beetle]

Re: How many of you'll here are 'pullers'? or tie up your hair really tight???????????? I have never met or seen anyone with this...... :duh: :duh:

[Predator_05]

Re: How many of you'll here are 'pullers'? I have crew-cut hair...very very short. Couldn't pull it out, even if i tried to.

[Dhondy]

Re: How many of you'll here are 'pullers'? I knew a little boy who used to pull out his mother's hair in bed. Soon his Mum became bald, poor lady!

[King]

Re: How many of you'll here are 'pullers'? LOL Dhondy

[observer1]

Re: How many of you'll here are 'pullers'? Aaah, a more mundane topic than I thought... I thought I was going to find confessions of conquests on the social front. I guess my vision was based on the less profound understanding of the word 'pull' . http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/p.htm

[Aqua]

Re: How many of you'll here are 'pullers'?

or tie up your hair really tight???????????? I have never met or seen anyone with this...... :duh: :duh:

that will definitely help bring the hairline back.. not a good suggestion...

[Aqua]

Re: How many of you'll here are 'pullers'?

I knew a little boy who used to pull out his mother's hair in bed. Soon his Mum became bald, poor lady!

he's no puller... you shd pull out ur own hair... but yeah, poor lady...