Mellisa,
I hear your concern regarding you son and his hair pulling. You should be. I have suffered with trichotillamania for about 20 years.
Please understand that I am not a doctor, only a woman with my own experience and personnal thoughts on this issue. So, I will share some of them with you in hopes that they may provide insight.
I do not like the way you refered to hair pulling that is complusive as a "habit." I do not feel that it is a habit. My thoughts are that it is a self destructive behavior based on low self esteem and a desire to punish myself because that's what I dedearve. It is kind of like cutting or anorexia in a way. It is based on some hurt somewhere.
I have had success in putting this behavior into remission. My success is always because of a healing process that I embrace. I have been in remission for as long as 10 months at a time. It is possible.
Your son may have feelings of low self esteem. I always did. That was the core of my issue with hair pulling. The hair pulling was symptomatic of something much greater.
I experienced my first success with stopping this horible behavior through the help of a therepist and a technique called EMDR. It is a methodology of therepy that has to do with rapid eye movement. It worked for me.
This is a method that is not widely used yet. Although, it was featured in a Dateline NBC story and is getting some recognition.
My therapist had used it on her patients for the treatment of drug/alcohol abuse prior to me. It doesn't hurt. The great part is that no drug therepy was incorporated into our treatment plan. This could be good considering that you are dealing with a child.
I was able to walk out of that session and immediatley stop pulling my hair. It was like a miricle. I stopped for 10 months. It was not a magic pill. I was not able to continue my treatments with her because she moved out of the area and there are few people who understand and impliment this treatment in their practices. I did not have the proper continued support. It was still a miricle to me.
I now have not pulled my hair for 5 weeks. This time it was through a personnal growth and development education program called PSI Education. The PSI organization is the oldest one of its kind.
The key here was the same, finding inner peace. I took the PSI Basic class in September, and the 7 day advanced course in December. I HAVE NOT PULLED ONE HAIR OUT OF MY HEAD SINCE THE FIRST DAY OF MY PSI7 CLASS. The PSI organization does offer classes for children, the parents first have to attend. That way you all work better together at being the best people you can with everything that is wonderful about you.
I understand that you may find my comments about this education as hooky or odd. Please know this; I feel heald from the inside. It is evidenced by the fact that I am no longer pulling my hair. PSI 7 changed my life. I will take the next class in order to continue my journey.
These are only my experiences and thoughts. I will hold your son in my thoughts of overcoming this difficult situation. Know that you are not alone. Many people suffer with this.
sincerely,
Sarah