Trich in college? Advice?

I'm 18 years old and nearing the end of my freshman year of college. I started pulling my hair out when I was maybe 8 years old. Back then, I had multiple visible bald patches, although the rest of my hair was super-long and could cover them up, so my mom (who did my hair every day) was the only person who noticed, and I was too embarrassed to tell her I pulled my hair, so she thought it was falling out on its own. I was eventually diagnosed with Celiac disease (not just based on that, but also on a bunch of other symptoms) and the hair pulling went away along with all my other symptoms when I went gluten-free. I've been eating gluten again since I was 13, though, and have had minimal symptoms (nothing compared to how bad it was before I first went GF, when I would get multiple hours-long nosebleeds a day and was severely underweight).

Also when I was 13 (this is probably way TMI, but I feel it's relevant), I started shaving my pubic hair because I found it uncomfortable. That's when I first found myself plucking pubic hair with tweezers, because as it would re-grow, I'd see multiple hairs growing in one follicle (pili multigemini) and I'd feel that I needed to get rid of them. I didn't necessarily feel out-of-control with this behavior, and I'm not sure if I would consider my plucking back then full-blown trich, but it was definitely the start of that behavior pattern.

But in the past year or so (for some of my senior year of high school, over last summer, and then getting a lot worse when I started college), my pubic hair plucking has become far more frequent. There are some days here at school when my roommate's been out of the room and I've spent at least 5 or 6 hours just sitting there plucking my pubic hair, often to the point of unintentionally skipping meals because I couldn't stop pulling, or not being able to stop thinking about it long enough to do my homework. I have to shave completely every time I shower, because the more it grows the more I want to pluck it. I often spend over an hour in the shower just making sure my pubic hair is shaved as short as possible, as if shaving's become a sort of compulsion too. So the impact this pulling has had on my time has been significant, but at least I haven't had to worry about it being too noticeable to others (not like anyone's seeing me with my underwear off anyways...). And I don't do it in public because obviously I can't just strip and pull out some tweezers in the middle of class. So I've felt lucky that I don't pull from my scalp.

Except that within the past week or two, I've started pulling from my scalp again. It's a lot easier to pull out hair on my head than to pluck out freshly-shaved pubic hair with tweezers, which is good in that it takes up less of my time to do, but awful in that it's so easy that it's hard to resist. I'm really worried about pulling so much that I will have noticeable hair loss, especially because (although this may sound rather shallow) I honestly love my hair and I think it's one of my best features; I don't have much else going for me. And the pulling is beginning to have an impact on my schoolwork (along with the pubic hair plucking, which, like I said, already impacts my homework). I had a test in my Physics class today, but I spent half the time allotted for the test just uncontrollably pulling out my hair instead, and didn't have enough time to finish the exam. The professor wouldn't give me extra time, and I was too ashamed to explain why I didn't finish. I definitely failed the test; I didn't even complete most of it. I can't seek academic accommodations such as extended test-taking time because I don't have an official trichotillomania diagnosis; I've never told anybody about it (although it's pretty clear that I do, indeed, have trich; I don't doubt the accuracy of my self-diagnosis).

So I guess my questions are (after this absolutely inordinately long post -- sorry, I get carried away with writing sometimes), where can I look for somebody with experience with trich who could give me a diagnosis? And does anybody else have any experience getting official academic accommodations due to trich? And does anybody have any general advice for managing college work with trich?

I passed throught all that . I recommend u to play with pen instead of pulling when u are doing your home works or in a class. U better pull pubic hair rather then pulling scalp . I stopped pulling from scalp 10 years ago . Believe me it will forget . It won't ask you anymore . You can always make appointment with dermatologist .and you can always make a hole in your right pocket so you can pull you need to find a way to fight stress without pulling .stay away from mirror

My trich was absolutely the worst during my college years. I wore a scarf most of the time but it
was tacky looking and really didn't hide much.
There is a hat on Ebay called Trichotillomania hat. It is a simple stocking cap with plastic
brushes sewn inside so that when you feel the urge, you merely press on the outside of the hat
rather than pulling your hair. It could be an excellent solution for you. The pressure of pushing
on the hat gives the same relief as pulling the hair out. Your scalp doesn't care if you are pushing or pulling, only that it is being stimulated, see?
It just looks like you are "adjusting" you hat when you press on the spot that craves
attention at the moment.
Others have found it helpful.

I also was diagnosed with ADD and had many other symptoms over the years of
nervous disorders for a variety of reasons, including forceps delivery birth, child abuse,
PTSD, and likely some genetic issues. The point is, I've tried about everything.

I got particularly good results with Emotional Freedom Technique, as administered
by Laurel Brookes. http://www.EFTSoulPath.com for details.

I also take a variety of helpful supplements and medication.

For me its a multi-faceted approach but my hair has grown back and I likely only pull about
a dozen a week at most.

Keep sharing. I love how you write. There was not one thing I thought was "TMI".
You are accepted and understood here. We are all a family.

It will get better.