For anyone reading my blog who didn't know what trich was beforehand, here is an ABC news story that I think sums it up pretty well. There are also some other clips at the bottom of the page.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McvfMDTIHyY&feature=related

It sounds a little bit silly when I say how glad I am that I still have a full head of hair. I am one of the lucky few with trichotillomania who doesn’t have the urge to pull directly from my scalp. A typical image of a person with trich is a girl wearing a hat or bandana to hide bald spots. Some of them even get asked if they are undergoing cancer treatments. We all know how very fortunate we are to be dealing with trich rather than a life-threatening illness.

Over the past couple of years I’ve come to the realization that it is just hair. Of course trich has caused me a lot of emotional pain, and the embarrassment of having to draw on eyebrows. But sometimes when I really have to concentrate on studying for an important test, or doing a lot of homework I let myself stop concentrating on not pulling. I just let my hands free, and in a half an hour my eyebrows are completely gone. That’s not fun, especially right afterwards when I get to look in the mirror and see all of the progress I’ve made go out the window. But now it’s getting easier for me to remember that at least during that half an hour I got some solid studying in. Really, what’s more important; getting a good grade in AP physics or having some pretty looking hair above your eyes? I think the physics grade will get me further.

Still, I know that it is possible for me to do both. Over the summer I usually grow back most of my eyebrows, mainly because all of the homework is gone. But this year I managed to make it all the way through the month of September without pulling a single hair. So, especially with the help of this project, I know I can do it again and make it last longer.

On Sunday I got my hair cut so that I now have a “side-bang” haircut; one where you can fully see one of my eyebrows. Unfortunately my pulling hasn’t decreased much as a result, but I am happy to report that I don’t feel uncomfortable at all walking around school with my eyebrows in plain sight. If I don’t accomplish anything else over the next two months, I think that would be good enough.

I do have faith that I will stop pulling though. I’ll be signing up for stoppulling.com next, and I think the thought of reporting how much I pull will definitely help.