Trichotillomia is an urge control complication. People with this disorder have an irresistible impulse to pull out hair from their scalp, eyebrows and eyelashes (Dia, 2008). It is characterized by an itchy feeling before one pulls the hair and a feeling of pleasure, satisfaction and calmness after the pull. A research by Christenson, Pyle, & Mitchell, rates of 0.6 % lifetime prevalence of the disorder were noticeable in both men and women (Dia, 2008). Nonetheless, there is an increase in lifetime value of women by 3.4 % and 1.5% in men. There is a belief that current numbers of individuals with this disorder are underestimated due to the sly nature of the disorder. People with this disease experience both economic and social disadvantages which in turn results to distress, according to Dia (2008). The affected will tend to be in isolation; and this will reflect in their financial, academic and social lives. They will tend to avoid work, school and social places; which could result into job loss, poor academic results and social distancing. Some individuals may end up spending huge cash on hiding the effects of hair pulling that are noticeable.
Dia’s article (2008) purposed to bring attention to the trichotillomania condition and depict a discovery research designed to enhance medical care results for persons having the TTM disorder by a numbing cream application. The research mainly focused on a case study of a young girl named Carol. This single subject study research took one week observing the young girl’s behavior. According to Dia (2008), precursors to the girl’s hair pulling were factors such as environmental, motoric, affective, sensory and cognitive elements. The girl was observed to be pulling her hair while alone at home and taking part in activities such as watching TV, doing her homework or reading. The number of attempts to pull her hair was regular in the week she was being studied.
CBT interventions came in after a week of observations. She monitored herself for the next three weeks with the researcher checking on her once a week. Her mother helped her to comply with the monitoring on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She complained of the itchy feeling related to a skin irritation. A numbing cream was suggested to the young girl to see if it could help destroy the links that led to the hair-pulling disorder. CBT strategies were done continuously alongside the use of her cream.
Upon the end of the of one month period, Carol had lowered the attempts of hair pulling a night by half the original number. Her eye brow pulling had gone down to zero at after a four-month period follow up. The girl was happy that when she used the numbing cream, it was absorbed into the skin and no one could notice she was using it. The urge to pull her hair diminished and sometimes could not pull it at all. The decrease however, was not the same as on the pulling of the eyelashes. She used to still pull them 2-3 times in one evening and it was not eliminated. The researcher concludes that the use of numbing cream may help the patients with TTM do away with the hair pulling. Many people including Carol’s mother mostly chose the medication based on their availability rather than recommendation. If the cream is able to do away with hair pulling, then there are lower chances of recurrence. He adds that it is critical to have full medical support and consultative advice before starting to use a drug in treatment of a disease. The researcher states a challenge of the next step to replicate the process using several participants, unlike just one in the study.
The typical pulling of one’s hair would lead to the following consequences: physical, psychological, cognitive and social problems. The embarrassment that leads to social avoidance has significant negative impacts on an individual having the TTM disorder. The findings are only based on a case study involving one person with the disorder. If there were several participants, would the findings still be the same? More research has now to focus on more than one individual in order to ascertain the results.
This research area is of great significance to the entire society, especially to those who are less aware about the TTM disorder. It has brought to light the impact such a disorder can have on an individual if it is unattended to and the psychological impact it carries along. A conclusion of the study suggesting that the numbing cream can be used to eradicate the hair pulling disorder a critical revelation. Instead of individual wasting money to hide the effects of TTM, they can purchase the numbing cream that will help them eliminate the disorder completely and refocus their lives back on track.
The thought that only behavior therapy would control the disorder has been downplayed by the findings of this research. The disorder was initially believed to be treated through behavior therapy-habit reversal training. Research about diseases assumed to be uncommon needs to be done to discover better medications. People with TTM tend to deny they have a complication and would hide the disorder by putting on hats, fake eyebrows and lashes. They would not want to be noticed. Courtesy of this research article, many individuals will be able to diagnose the TTM disorder themselves and look for ways of stopping it through the behavior therapy and the application of the numbing cream; with consultations and support from the medical staff.
Reference
Dia, D. A. (2008). “I Can't Stop Pulling My Hair!" Using Numbing Cream as an Adjunct Treatment for Trichotillomania. Health & social work, 33(2), 155-8.
