shave my hair?

So, I started struggling with trich in seventh grade at a really stressful point in my life. After about 9 months, I was able to stop pulling when my parents offered me the incentive of my own digital camera if I could go for six weeks (through my exam days) without pulling.

About a year and a half ago, I went through another stressful point and started pulling again, off and on. Only this time I haven't figured out how to stop. My hair looks patchy and thin, and I get stares and sometimes questions... I have been thinking about shaving my head completely and wearing a head scarf or something to school. It would not be a fun way to end my senior year of high school, but I am totally willing to do it if I knew it would work. I really want to honor God through my actions and I think if I get away from pulling long enough, I will be able to stop focusing on this problem and start focusing more on other people.

I would love any support, ideas, or comments!

Hi,

I would typically view Trich. as a type of OCD, believe it or not. I assume that you have heard of OCD? Basically, what you're doing IS obsessional and you don't have control over it. That's OCD in its simplest form. So, maybe learning more about OCD itself would help you out, as opposed to just reading up about Trich. I used to pull my hair a lot when I was younger, but I just 'grew out' of it. i know that this isn't much help to you right now, but it might tell you at least that you won't have this forever.

Kevin

Shaving works. It was the only thing to put an end to my most destructive pulling. I still pull occasionally, but shaving my head for a whole year solid allowed me to re-wire and not have the impulses be so overwhelming.