What is Trichotillomania?

The official diagnostic criteria for TTM are:

• Recurrent pulling out of one's hair resulting in noticeable hair loss.
• An increasing sense of tension immediately before pulling out the hair or when attempting to resist the behavior.
• Pleasure, gratification, or relief when pulling out the hair.
• The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

However, these criteria do not seem to apply in all cases. Many people who have TTM do not have the tension/relief cycle described in these diagnostic criteria. Probably the best definition is simply chronic and repetitive hair pulling. Hair is usually pulled from the eye brows, eye lashes or the scalp, but can be pulled from any location on the body where hair grows (genitals, under arms, etc.).