Types of Trichotillomania

Trichollomania can be classified into two main types: the obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the habit. Let’s take a closer look at these types by reading the following details.

Trichotillomania as an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Recent researches have revealed that people who suffer from tension before pulling and who feel a sense of gratification upon pulling can be considered as victims of trichotillomania as a type of obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder.

Now, what exactly is obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder?

The term “obsessive-compulsive spectrum” basically refers to a sequence of major conditions associated with psychiatric. This is usually identified by the presence of obsessions and compulsions.

When I say “obsessions”, I’m actually referring to those ideas and thoughts that can cause much distress and anxiety to you. This has something to do with thinking so much about things. An example of this could be someone who compulsively washes his or her hands thinking that germs or dirt are on it. That person is obsessed about germs, triggering him to wash his or her hands repeatedly.

Note that someone who is affected by obsession can get paranoid under stress. The idea behind this is that when you think and think and think about something, what happens is that you will keep on thinking about things that are not really happening. This is also true with pulling your hair for the fact that if you think and think about having bad hairs, the result would be the act of constant pulling. Perhaps an effective treatment for this is reducing and managing stress in most cases.

On the other hand, the term “compulsions” has something to do with the act performed to reduce the anxiety produced by obsessions. To put it simply, compulsions refer to those repetitive behaviors you do to gratify your obsessions. This is where the actual act of pulling one’s own hair comes in.

Experts have recognized the obsessive compulsive disorder in the following definitions:

Pulling out one’s hair recurrently resulting in hair loss or baldness that is highly noticeable.

A sense of gratification, relief or pleasure upon pulling out the hair.

A sense of tension that tends to increase immediately prior to the act of pulling out the hair or when one attempts to control or resist the behavior.

When a clinically significant distress is caused by the disturbance. This also holds true when impairment in occupational, social or other necessary areas of functioning are affected.

When the disturbance is not properly accounted for by another form of mental disorder, and if the disturbance is not caused by a general medication condition.