if your pulling out your hair are you a safe person to be near children ...and is it normal for your children to see this

Submitted by cynthia7579 Tue 01/12/2010

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People who pull out their

Submitted by mwilliams on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 3:06am.

People who pull out their hair are typically suffering from Trichotillomania, a compulsive hair pulling disorder. Since you are only pulling out your own hair, I don’t see how it would be unsafe for you to be around children.

If you are obsessing about whether or not you are a danger to children, that sounds like a potential OCD fear. OCD and Trichotillomania are often comorbid (co-occurring) disorders, which is something for you to keep in mind.

As to whether or not it is normal for a child to see this, well no it isn’t. Trichotillomania is a rare disorder in the first place, and obviously it wouldn’t be healthy for a child to see someone pulling out their hair and not knowing why. However, if you were to explain the disorder to the child and tell them why you are pulling your hair out, that could help them understand the problem, and it would certainly make it much easier for the child rather than not knowing why.

The link below has more information on Trichotillomania and treatment options. However the best thing to do would be to see a psychologist to see if this is indeed the problem. Trichotillomania can be treated with a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy focused on habit-reversal techniques.

http://www.brainphysics.com/hair-pulling.php

Best of luck,
Dr. Williams

—

Monnica T. Williams, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist specializing in OCD
http://www.monnicawilliams.com

For Treatment Options Call (877) 331-9311

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