I was outside with my daughter playing in the grass. Feeling the grass reminded me of that one thick hair among all the fine hairs that you just wanna YANK! Gosh, I went crazy. It felt so freaking good knowing that it was grass and not my eyelashes, and I know my eyelashes are very thankful for the vacay!
Idk what type of grass it is and honestly I really don’t care, it felt so good omg
Hey community!
if you know me, you know I'm passionate about raising awareness of hair pulling, skin picking and other Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors.
I've worked tirelessly the last 6 years - to write my story New Harbinger Publications.
It took a lot out of me to go back to painful moments - and in between I had to pause to meet my moment with breast cancer.
- but I know this memoir, "Aneela, Where are Your Eyebrows?" is more than my story.
I hid my hair pulling for 20+ years and its only in being caught and sharing my pain with others that I realized the secret makes us sick.
20 years of being silent and now its the flipside... nearly a decade of shouting it on roof tops because I know that when I can share my story of hurting in hiding someone in the room feels seen.
I've worked tirelessly the last 6 years - to write my story with New Harbinger Publications.
This memoir is for everyone who's ever been pulled down by hair pulling, skin picking, nail biting.
Or been pulled down by bullying, or cancer, or their own mind.
And its for anyone who wants to find a way back up.
In this book I share my deepest fears and hopes.
In sharing my journey, my greatest hope is that the acronym "BFRBs" will be just as identifiable to our outer communities as "OCD" or "GAD" or "Diabetes."
It will be out this Fall, and I'm hoping you can support now by providing input on the book cover.
Thank you!!!
love ♥️, strength 💪, & awareness 👀, Aneela (HabitAware & BFRB Changemakers NFP founder in trichotillomania recovery)
I’ve been pulling since I was 12 years old, I haven’t stopped since. I find it impossible to stop… let's be honest. I think counting my pulls this way is easier for me. I'm proud of myself for making it this far ❤️
looks really minor but when I part my hair any place on my scalp it shows my new spiky growth - struggled really badly with trich since childhood and hit an ultimate low in 2020 when I had a huge bald patch on the back half of my scalp and couldn’t leave the house without spending ages doing a ponytail that’d hide it. it was really isolating, I was in first or second year of secondary school at the time (was 13/14) and it was the breaking point for me to finally go to therapy and to deal with how I feel because trich was just a manifestation of my anxiety and the fact that now despite still daily struggling with it- this is the only visible evidence left! feeling both proud and frustrated that it’s still ongoing but it’s not over yet 🩷
Recently I’ve struggled hard with this BFRB. I was working night shift and taking classes during the day and not really sleeping. I attended weekly therapy sessions specifically for hair pulling. I take at least 1500 mg of NAC daily, sometimes 3000 mg.
I recently left my full-time EMT job (where I had to use my hands extensively and would definitely break nails) to pursue a master’s degree full-time, allowing me to get these super long nails and…
Nothing else I have tried (besides actually sleeping at night) has helped as much as having these long nails 💅🏼 they were expensive and I could only get them because I left my job. So I understand why you might think you can’t have long nails but…
Buy cheap press-on nails and glue them to your nails at home. Buy nail rings that you can attach fake nails to and wear them at home and take them off only when you leave the house. Please try this method. Even if you are masculine look up metal nail rings (that are shaped like a long nail). I’ve owned those before as well.
They make you very aware that you’re touching hair/trying to pull and they make it much much more difficult to pull. Please note that I primarily struggle with lashes and brows.
Please try this. This BFRB feels like a powerful addiction to me and we need to try to do anything to block access to the behavior
I posted a couple months ago screenshots of some text from my abusive partner, talking about how disgusting I was on the eyebrows big nose, you guys absolutely love bombed me.
Six years ago, I was hit by a car walking home drunk and it put me in the hospital for nine days, and what I thought was, the end of my life ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.
Three years ago I started writing a book after I had some amazing insights and understanding that I thought would help people struggling with alcohol and struggling with life in a similar way I was, and then I got into this relationship that absolutely crushed my spirit..
I left her on March 26, and I finished writing my book today. Its 9 short chapters, if you guys want to read it I would love some feedback
I was so scared it wasn’t gonna grow back, but it started growing and i’m so so happy i want to cry😭🥳
i still pull, but this is improvement and it gives me hope for the future🩷🥹
I just feel sad. I struggle with trichotillomania and dermatillomania specifically on my face. I take acne medication and barely have any pimples, but I still pick and pull and make my face full of red spots for no good reason.
My boyfriend struggles with empathy , ugh. Antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic traits, and more… we both have bpd so i feel like we do somewhat understand each other. But this one really hurts.
He recently told me that my skin picking is a turn off for him and that it affects his sexual attraction towards me. After I pick my skin I obviously feel guilt and shame and want to kind of hide myself from the world, so I obviously don’t feel sexy in those moments. He mentioned that it’s a turn on for him when people are confident about their looks. Obviously a direct hit at me because I am the opposite after skin picking. And apparently this stuff makes him not interested in having sex with me.
He used to try and help remove me from the mirror and take my tweezers away. I’ve spoken to him about what I struggle with and why it’s hard to “just stop”. I’ve explained it but he struggles to empathize with the whole thing.
Lately he told me that he just lets me keep picking because it annoys him. Most recently he said that when he realized I was picking at my face, he just laughed to himself. And he came into the room where I was and flipped me off.
He sounds like an asshole, I know. I also specifically don’t shave to avoid the urge to pluck my hair, and he also made it a point once to tell me that he doesn’t want to eat me out because of my bush. I told him why I keep the bush (to avoid plucking hairs) but I don’t think it changed anything for him.
I wish I was kidding about all of this. I wish this wasn’t real. I love him but he can be cruel sometimes and lately I’ve been really in my head about my skin picking and hair pulling because now I know how it makes him feel. I think it’s honestly just made me start to pick even more. And I did end up shaving my bush. And now I can’t stop plucking the hairs. I just want to stop these behaviors. I feel so stuck because the small shameful part of me agrees with him regarding the skin picking. But I also completely disagree. I never change the way I look at someone or feel towards someone just because of some redness on their face. I would have the empathy.
I just need support. I know he’s an asshole sometimes but it’s not always that way. And I really want to stop picking. I just feel extra insecure now and I know he wouldn’t even care if I told him that I feel this way.
Lately I’ve asked him to just be honest with me, be truthful, be his authentic self. And his authentic self is sometimes really mean? And cruel? And he kind of feels like he has a right to say his honest cruel thoughts because I’m asking him to be honest. And he’ll just tell me that his honest self is an asshole. I just really don’t know how to feel about everything. I guess this became a rant. He does love me but sometimes his love doesn’t feel soft. I wish he had empathy
I also posted this on r/dermatillomania. Im just looking for some support right now.
In what context do you feel that you are more likely to pull your hair? For me, I pull most often while driving.
What mood do you feel that you are more likely to pull your hair? For me, when I'm experiencing negative emotions.
I don't really struggle with pulling clumps of hair only singular strands. Thankfully this means its not really noticeable for me but idk if anyone else just pulls single strands.
If anyone’s interested, I can post a video, but these fidget pads I got on Amazon for really cheap have been a lifesaver. While I sit and watch TV, I struggle a lot to not pick and now that I have this to keep my hands busy.. game changer.!!! and it’s also hitting that specific urge
Hopefully this is the right flair
Hi all, I’m hoping I’m able to help someone overcome trich.
I’ve been suffering with trich for 7-8 years, completely bald on the top of my head. I dropped out of school when I was 15 and became homeschooled, people noticing my bald spots made me skip classes, sit in bathrooms and just cry, I withered away from everyone, my family and friends, I didn’t want to be seen, I had a hard time even looking at myself.
I joined this subreddit not that long ago and have posted in it, being seen by a community of people just like me felt reassuring, I felt seen. I didn’t feel alone anymore.
I started birthcontrol (implanon) in August 2025, the first 2-3 months I did continue to pull, but notice I wasn’t thinking of it as often, by the 3-4 month mark I completely stopped pulling, no urges, no thoughts about it, just stopped. I’ve now been 5 months pull free, my hair has grown back, and I’m able to feel confident again, wearing my hair in all different styles and honestly just feeling amazing.
This may not work for everyone, but it did work for me, and I’m hoping it will help someone else🩷🩷
Hair takes a while to grow back... Why not have some fun with it while you wait? Make sure to love yourself, with or without hair, and heck, if it helps, have some fun with it! It's not all doom and gloom, it's simply just who you are, don't fret over it, take it day by day ;p
My left eyebrow is in rough shape after years of pulling, and it doesnt help that I've got dirty blonde hair so many of my remaining hairs (and other brow) are on the lighter side. I draw it on with a brow pencil but I'm not very good at it. Has anyone gotten brow tinting done (or done it themselves at home), or taken the leap to permanent makeup/tattooing? Were you happy with the immediate results and how is it holding up now?
Alternatively, any tips for brow makeup products or techniques?
So Needoh is the latest TikTok craze. I usually roll my eyes at the hype. But THIS fidget seems like it will be a game changer. My daughter left it in my car over the weekend and I haven’t been able to put it down. Little does she know, she’s not getting this back 🤭. I only pick in the car and other times I’m alone. Boredom or when I’m really focused. So I’m excited to see if this helps me when I drive this morning!
I have no eyebrows left. I am going to be bald again probably. I am just so disgusted with myself. Last night, I was understandably upset, so I was crying and I made a slight, very brief screaming noise at one point, so the people in the dorm room next to me called the police, so that was just the cherry on top.
i started taking NAC about two weeks ago, starting with one supplement (600mg) and gradually taking 2 a day, and now 3 when needed. i currently have no side effects that i’ve noticed. i am so grateful i am giving NAC another shot. i attempted to take it in 2021 but would take 2 at once in the morning only and very inconsistently. the key is spacing it out. i take it morning and afternoon, plus night if the urges are bad (u cannot exceed 2,400mg). i haven’t pulled my hair more than 5x a day (like only 5 STRANDS total) for i think a full week now, which is strange considering most studies say it takes weeks for it to take effect. i will say, i had lots of motivation to resist and change prior as well as starting in a less stressful point in time for me. i’ve had trich for 9 years now, i pull 99% of hair from my scalp and have lost at least 3/4 of my thickness and have given myself more bald spots than i can count over the years. now… i suddenly have hope. i have a much easier time telling myself to stop in the moment or resist entirely. i try to just physically itch the “tingly spots” and distract myself after. that’s never really worked well until now. i hope this continues, im manifesting it will. i hope this can inspire someone to start this supplement if they’ve never tried.
p.s. NAC supports wayyy more than just BFRB’s including depression, OCD, schizophrenia, heart health, metabolic health, respiratory health, bone strength, immunity, liver protection, memory, insulin resistance, etc. CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR AND OR PSYCHIATRIST FIRST!
This has been a habit of mine for yeeeeaars now. Its nothing crazy but I do it pretty often and only pluck the loose hairs, which isn't painful at all. My mum pulls the hair on her head out and we are the only ones in the family that do it as far as I know.
Hello, I am a 22 year old female that has been suffering with trichotillomania since around 10 years old. Since 17, I've been bald or had a very short buzz cut. I love having hair, but it seems impossible. So I'm now asking for some wigs that are suitable for beginners, relatively low budget ($100) and any advice that would help me. Thank you