TRICHOTILLOMANIA

Course overview

OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDERS ENCOMPASS A LARGE PORTION OF DIVERSE DISORDERS AND PRESENTATIONS THAT REVOLVE AROUND THE CENTRAL THEME OF REPEATED THOUGHTS AND REPEATED ACTIVITIES. IN ITS MOST GENERAL DESCRIPTION, OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD) IS JUST AS THE NAME STATES, AN OBSESSION KNOWN AS REPEATED THOUGHTS, OR COMPULSIONS KNOWN AS REPEATED ACTIVITIES. UNDER THIS PARTICULAR SPECTRUM OF DISORDERS, THERE IS TRICHOTILLOMANIA (TTM) ALSO KNOWN AS HAIR-PULLING DISORDER. IT WAS FIRST DESCRIBED IN ANCIENT GREECE, BUT ITS CURRENT NAME WAS COINED IN THE LATER PART OF THE 18TH CENTURY. IN THESE CASES THE HAIR IS PULLED FROM ANYWHERE ON THE BODY REPEATEDLY, APPEARING AS HAIR LOSS BUT IS CAUSED BY THE ACTION OF THE PATIENT. AS THIS CONDITION CAN GREATLY AFFECT THE APPEARANCE OF THE PATIENT, IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH SOCIETAL STIGMA. THIS STIGMA CREATES AN ENVIRONMENT OF UNDERREPORTING, ATTEMPTS TO CONCEAL THE DISORDER, AND OFTEN A PATIENT WILL SEEK TREATMENT WITH A DERMATOLOGIST BEFORE OR COMPLETELY IN PLACE OF A PSYCHIATRIST.