YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

I think I have a minor version of this. I'm always pulling at my beard or body hair subconsciously, there have been a few times where I've had to shave since I actually made my beard uneven. I really feel for those of you who have it big-time, it's got to be rough. Sending you my best!

Definitely feel like i have it as well. When I am really stressed out, i tend to pull out my eye brow hairs. Sometimes to the point where I will have a patch of hair missing. I have not done it much lately because i realized the trigger for it. When it first started happening I felt so ashamed because it was affecting something on my face and then I become extremely subconscious about my eyebrows and felt the need to fill them in with makeup even when I went to the gym. My mom has both Trichotillomania and Dermatillomania because she has the same issues but also picks at her skin. She has never been diagnosed but they are hard symptoms to miss. If there is anyone that wants to talk about it, I am here with open arms.

Because lets face it, shit happens.

Hi Sallie Maes Bitch I do the same thing with my beard. I've never done it before this current time growing it out. Around a year into it I have been pulling and picking at it to find split ends or that's how it started. Now sometimes I catch myself after I've been doing it without even realizing what I'm doing and telling myself to stop only to repeat that cycle until I comb it out. I almost broke down and shaved it off as it was bothering me so much to not feel like I could control myself. That was a weird time.. I still pick at it and it's extremely annoying and I don't know how to quit, it's so compulsive. I have different reactions when I look in the mirror now. To me it's like a bipolar episode. One day I will look and say oh it's not bad (it's super thick to begin with), and other days I go into a total meltdown about it. My face burns with the regret of what I did and that's usually the day id pick it.