How did your trichotillomania start?

I just liked how it felt, no other reason

I wanted to impress my crush at the time and I heard twirling your hair could catch their attention. Well long story short my finger got caught and I had to cut my finger free and that just kinda started my hair pulling lol

Mine started at puberty. I didn't realize the connection until down the road but I looked in my journal and the hair pulling started suddenly the exact week I got my first period.

Mine (eyelash/brow) started at a very young age. My dad had a very very mild form of it but the combination of my uncontrolled ADHD, severe anxiety, and being exposed to it very young made me start it very young too. I have had gaps in my lashes since I was at least 10. I think the pressures of the beauty industry and hyperfixating on your face being "perfect" attributed to it too. I would pluck any eyebrow or eyelash that was pointing downwards or not in the perfect place. In 2018, I stopped and was in remission for about 4 years, but the last 2 months ive relapsed worse than i ever have and i feel so ashamed. I have no advice to offer since i am struggling with it right now, but you are not alone!! 🥰💕

mine started 8 years ago, i was peak depression and (tw) mentally & eventually s3xually abused by an ex. just kept doing it since and still suffer past thoughts from it. i dont think ive gone more than 5 days without pulling (exclusively an eyelash puller). ive tried store bought fidget toys, rubber bands for my wrist (snap them if caught pulling), both havent worked for me. Lotion works great but its not very pleasant if youre an eye puller like me, it can burn. also i dont really like how lotion feels on my hands personally. but it just makes it harder to grip the hair. i also semi recently started doing this, but leaving my phone on front facing camera on a table in front of me so i can physically see if my hands are wandering and stop once i see the movement on screen. i also would make my own hand fidgets at home with whatever textures i found nice! one of my favorite ones is a bunch of circle key rings bound together with pony beads on each ring. they make a nice noise and feel nice on my fingertips.. hope this helped !