[AngieB]

First let me give you some back ground. DS( 6 1/2 years old) is a very spirited child I'm sure if I took him to be tested they would say he is ADHD no doubt in my mind. He has a hard time with controlling himself, he is very hyper, doesn't think things through before he acts, etc..... He has had some behavior problems at school but I'm pretty happy with how the teachers handle things, he has also had problems on the bus but has been doing really well until the last few weeks. He just got kicked off the bus for 3 days for being rude to the driver. He is very sensitive and usually reactive with aggression, but can be very sweet most of the time. He goes through times of being really good and then his behavior will go down hill and things will get bad again. I just had baby number 4 a month ago so things are a bit off at home and I'm working at getting everything back to normal but it has effected his behavior.<br><br>
If anyone is still reading, here it the new problem. I've noticed that DS is pulling out his hair. I've only seen him do it a few times maybe 3 or 4 times. He wraps his fingures around a clump of hair and pulls. At first I just asked what he was doing and I can't even remember his answer. Itold him not to do it again. Then I saw him doing it in the car on the way to school today and I made it really clear that it wasn't go to do that and he needed to stop. i'm planning on looking closely at his hair tonight to see if he's making bald spots.<br><br>
I'm getting freaked out, why is he doing this and does anyone have experience with something like this? Should I call the dr. or wait a while to see if he does it anymore? I know DH and I need to make more one on one time for him and we'll start working on that, but what else should I do?

 

[Terabith]

I pull out my hair. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/duck.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Duck">: I find it very soothing. Technically it is called trichtotillimania or something like that and is part of the ocd family. (Some people eat their hair after pulling it out. That would be a problem.) If he is making bald spots, then I might take him into the dr. I would try really hard not to harass him about it. Think of it as a nervous habit or a comfort object. If it is not damaging his hair, I would try to ignore it.

 

[poppyseed]

I was born 17mths after my brother, and after I was born, he started pulling his hair out, it was believed it was because of emotional stress. My mother tried everything, cutting his hair VERY short reminding him not to do it, making reward charts etc, but it didn't seem to help. My brother was (still is) an extremely sensitive soul. He had a huge bald spot on the crown of his head. He would get better at times, but then at times of emotional turmoil (starting school, new siblings born, moving on to high school etc) it would become much worse again. It seemed that this was his way of self soothing when he was stressed. As far as I know he didn't stop until he was about 15, and could make a very consious effort not to. He now has a full head of hair at 30 (apart from a nice pair of devils peaks!) Obviously I can't give you a formulated answer, as nothing seemed to get my brother to stop, but as someone who is trained in and worked in early childhood education for 11 years, all I can suggest is that you give him as much emotional support as possible, have him sleep in the family bed at night if it is possible, make special one on one time for him.... at a stretch is home schooling a possibility.

 

[LauraLoo]

Terabith is right on - Trich. is part of the OCD family and OCD is part of the anxiety disorder family. You've mentioned that your ds has ADHD-like behavior. Sometimes anxiety produces ADHD-like behavior. It's kind of hard to know which comes first - the chicken or the egg.<br><br>
There is a good book for you to read: "Freeing Your Child From Anxiety" by Tamar Chansky. It talks about all sorts of anxiety disorders and specifically addresses OCD and Trich. You may find it very enlightening and encouraging because anxiety disorders are treatable with therapy. In the meantime, calling out this behavior will probably only make it worse for your ds because as Terabith also describes, it is a comforting behavior to reduce the anxiety.

 

[jkpmomtoboys]

I agree with what everyone has said. I too have trich, or TTM, as it's also called. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/duck.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Duck">:<br><br>
Most important, TTM needs to be treated with sensitivity and compassion. Calling it out in any negative way aggravates the anxiety and causes more pulling. Even when my husband calls it out in a loving way, I react poorly and I'm a grownup. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"><br><br>
I would let it alone; perhaps work with him in substituting a behavior for the pulling but only if he's receptive to the idea. Talking with him about how he feels when he's pulling also helps but definitely try to avoid embarassing him (hard to do with 6 1/2 yo boys - I know!).<br><br>
St. John's Wort has been known to help TTM, also bananas.<br><br>
Googling "trichtillomania" will give you some great information sources as well...