Trichotillomania – much worse since having my Daughter?
I have suffered on and off with Trichotillomania since I was about 15. It started when I first started wearing mascara as I would play with my eyelashes, they would become clogged with mascara and I would pull them out. I have never pulled hair from anywhere else other than my top eyelashes, not even my bottom eyelashes. My eyelashes always grow back, although the process is getting slower and my eyelashes definitely aren’t as full as they used to be. When I pull, I am never happy until the complete lid is hairless – it starts with a few and ultimately ends up with no upper eyelashes and if I cant get them with my fingers, I’ll whip the tweezers out.
My Daughter was born last May and while I was pregnant, I didn’t pull at all and with all the baby hormones my hair growth was great and my eyelashes were wonderful but since having my Daughter I seem to be pulling at an alarming rate.
Has anyone else experienced this post partum? I have been on some anti anxiety medication for post natal depression since my Daughter was 2 months old but I am now being taken off of these and I really dont feel that these tablets have made the problem worse.
I have tried everything. My tweezers are even currently in a frozen cup of water in the freezer so that I would have to defrost them before I could use them but nothing works. I dont knowingly pull and everyone tells me when I’m doing it and I stop but seriously, it’s driving me crazy.
Where do I go for help? How can I stop this? I really want my pretty eyelashes back and I don’t want my Daughter growing up thinking that this is normal behavior 
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I would say to see a psychiatrist about it. They should be able to fully assess and treat your trichotillomania. I hope all goes well!
You’re going to have to try to get yourself out of this habit. Maybe you could give yourself a goal. Like, “If I get through this week without pulling my eyelashes then I’ll buy myself that pair of shoes I was looking at yesterday”. Once you have a goal you can work towards it. When you catch yourself pulling, quickly stop and do something else. Soon enough that bad habit should die and your eyelashes will be beautiful again.
Another thing you could try is to keep your hands busy. Whenever you know you’re most tempted to pull keep a stress ball with you to squish and mess with so that you keep your hands occupied and off of your eyelashes. Good luck!