What Is Trichotillomania (TTM)?
Trichotillomania is a term coined by a French dermatologist,
Henri Hallopeaux
(1842-1919) in 1889 to describe the compulsive or irresistible urge he saw in
patients who pluck out their hair. The word trichotillomania is derived from the Greek
thrix, hair; tillein, to pull; and mania, madness or frenzy. This name is somewhat of a
misnomer in that people with trichotillomania are not "mad",
"psychotic" or "crazy" as the name suggests. In psychiatry,
trichotillomania is classified as an Impulse Control Disorder as are conditions such as
compulsive gambling, kleptomania (compulsive stealing) and pyromania (compulsive fire
setting).
Impulse control disorders are characterized by the inability to control or resist the
temptation (or impulse) to do something harmful to oneself or someone else. A sufferer
sometimes experiences a sense of increasing tension before performing the behavior and can
feel a sense of relief or release of tension afterwards. Sometimes people even express a
degree of pleasure after having performed the act.
Features of trichotillomania that fit the description of an impulse control disorder
include the inability to resist urges to pull out one's hair, mounting tension before
pulling and feeling of relief afterward.
More formally, the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) defines trichotillomania as:
"Recurrent pulling out of one's hair resulting in noticeable hair loss.
An increasing sense of tension immediately before pulling out the hair or when attempting
to resist the behavior.
Pleasure, gratification, or relief when pulling out the hair.
The disturbance is not better accounted for by another mental disorder and is not due to a
general medical condition (e.g., a dermatologic condition).
The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social,
occupational, or other important areas of functioning."
Not all patients who pull out their hair meet these strict criteria. Nonetheless, they
frequently have a distressing problem that might very well benefit from treatment.
___________________
Excerpt from: Trichotillomania: A Guide, 1994, a 45 page guide to understanding what
trichotillomania is and how it's treated.
Thank you to the
Trichotillomania
Learning Center (TLC)
for Providing this information for my page.
You can 
TLC!
