I've treated a few clients with that and pica, they are both bizaare diseases.

I remember a character from a series i read once would tug her hair, as it was in a long braid, but i dont know if thats exactly the same. I occasionally pull on my eyebrows for loose hairs, lol, but thats probably not the same either. Its not much of an obsession, sort of a boredom thing, and I dont TEAR them out. This answer probably was not as helpful as i imagined. Hope you find the answer you want

One of my good friends is dating someone with that. The top of her head is almost bald. She would be attractive if she didn't pull out all of her hair. I'm told that she goes to therapy for it.

No, I don't nor do I know anybody with it personally.

I have it unfortunately. Had it since 6 years and I was always punished by my mother for this illness. It is totally not my fault - it is not a weakness or flaw. It is simply a chemical imbalance that sometimes goes on its own into remission but can always come back.

I heard on 20/20 not to long ago, that it is a brain disfunction of some sort..Forever it was thought to be OCD and even thought meds could control it.. Thy are finding out now, that it isn't easily controlled. The person can absolutly not control it. I wish I reemembered moe about it, it did show people, mostly women who pulled their hair out, some just head hair, some everywhere. It's an awful way for a child to be and be ridiculed for something they can't help. I guess it's more common then thought.

Trichotillomania seems to run in families, from my experience. My Grandmother had a mild form of it; she would "twiddle" or twist and twirl her hair as well as chew on it. This was passed down to my mother, and she did the same thing until she decided to keep her hair cut short and she passed it on to me as well; I "twiddle" my hair constantly as well as chew on it. When my stress levels get too high, I pull on my hair so hard that it comes out in chunks-- I also have a tendency to pull out my eyebrows when I get too stressed out or get into an argument. It seems to be along the same lines as a child sucking his/her thumb, serving as something similar to a security blanket or calming action. My sister has this disorder in the worst way; she will pull out her hair, strand by strand, chew on it, discard it, and then start all over again. She's done it so much, that she has a bald spot on the top of her head and the hair follicles have been severely damaged and will not allow the hair to grow back. Another of my sister's does not seem to have it as badly as the rest of my family, but her son now "twiddles" his hair. The only thing that I can chalk it up to is that it is very much along the same lines as a child sucking his/her thumb and runs in families... Or is simply a habit that, when a child sees his/her family members doing it, they mimic it and are addicted to the habit. My sister and I get ridiculed and picked on at work because of our uncontrollable habits with our hair, but we've learned to live with it and control it as best as we can.

I have it, and have had it since I was 9. Generally I pull head hair, but I've pulled eyebrows and eyelashes before. For the last several years I've been controlling it fairly well with SSRIs but I had to stop the drugs because they were interfering with other stuff in my life. It's become especially hard now that I'm at college living with a roommate--fortunately, my roommate sheds a ton and so far thinks I do too.