Hair Eating
Are you struggling with a habit disorder?
CBT Therapy aims to help you be able to identify patterns in your behaviour. It can also help you cope with feelings that are difficult to manage, which could be the cause of your habit. With your therapist, you will gain an insight into your behaviour and then discuss ways to intervene. Treatment will involve changing external cues and habit reversal.
What is a Habit Disorder?
Habit disorders can be classified as things you repeatedly do but without a clear motivation or reason for doing so. Habit disorders can range from hair pulling (trichotillomania) and lip biting, to gambling and pathological stealing (kleptomania).
When to seek treatment for Hair Eating
You should consider treatment for your habit disorders when:
You can’t stop yourself from carrying out your habit
Your habit is leading to undesirable results (ranging from hair pulling damaging hair follicles, to gambling getting you into financial difficulty)
Your habit is disruptive to your work, social life, financial stability or appearance
"She listened to and guided me from the very start of our sessions in an empathetic and professional manner. I trusted her, felt comfortable with her and felt she only had my recovery and best interests in mind. I have no idea why or how EMDR works, I have read up on it but can still not explain how it has changed my brain, but I am forever thankful for the treatment I received."
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What you need to know
In a clinical setting, Habit Reversal Training is a gold standard of treatment for trichotillomania (compulsive hair-pulling), dermatillomania (excessive skin picking), onychophagia (chronic nail-biting), and other body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs). Habit Reversal Training is scientifically proven to help you reduce and take control of your unwanted repetitive behaviours.
Trichophagia is the compulsive eating of hair associated with trichotillomania (hair-pulling). In trichophagia, people with trichotillomania also ingest the hair that they pull; in extreme cases, this can lead to a hairball.
Trichophagia is characterized by the person eating hair, usually their own; primarily after pulling it out. Most often, hair is pulled out and then the ends of the root bulb are eaten, or occasionally the hair shaft itself. The hair eventually collects in the gastrointestinal tract (on occasion, and depending upon the severity of symptoms) causing indigestion and stomach pain. Sometimes those with the disorder may even eat the hair of others. In the psychiatric field, it is considered a compulsive psychological disorder.
Rapunzel syndrome, an extreme form of trichobezoar in which the "tail" of the hairball extends into the intestines, and can be fatal if misdiagnosed. In some cases, surgery may be required to remove the mass.
Trichophagia is characterized by the person eating hair, usually their own; primarily after pulling it out. Most often, hair is pulled out and then the ends of the root bulb are eaten, or occasionally the hair shaft itself. The hair eventually collects in the gastrointestinal tract (on occasion, and depending upon the severity of symptoms) causing indigestion and stomach pain. Sometimes those with the disorder may even eat the hair of others. In the psychiatric field, it is considered a compulsive psychological disorder.
Rapunzel syndrome, an extreme form of trichobezoar in which the "tail" of the hairball extends into the intestines, and can be fatal if misdiagnosed. In some cases, surgery may be required to remove the mass.
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