When I finally had an abnormally lucid afternoon. I looked in the mirror and saw myself for the first time in my life.

I confessed to my therapist that evening I had been pulling my hair and I showed her what I had done to myself.

I was so caught up in my spiderweb, I thought she and the rest of the world couldn’t see.

She said “I know, you’ve been doing it in front of me since you walked in my door.”

My face turned six shades of red, mostly from embarrassment and some indignant anger. I finally hung my head and I said “now what am I going to do?”

She said the three most life altering words anyone had said thus far.

“YOU GET BETTER.”

Trichotillomania

A disorder that involves recurrent, irresistible urges to pull out body hair.

Recurrent pulling out of one’s hair resulting in noticeable hair loss
An increasing sense of tension immediately before pulling out the hair or when resisting the behavior
Pleasure, gratification, or relief when pulling out the hair
The disturbance is not accounted for by another mental disorder and is not due to a general medical condition (i.e., dermatological condition)
Repeated attempts have been made to decrease or stop hair pulling
The disturbance causes significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Distress may include feeling a loss of control, embarrassment, or shame and impairment may occur due to avoidance of work, school, or other public situations.
Hair pulling may be accompanied by a range of behaviors or rituals involving hair