NHS must give more attention to hair pulling
- By Jeremy Harkin
- Published 9th November, 2010
- Hair News
- Unrated
Jeremy Harkin
Jeremy has enjoyed a varied career in advertising and media. He is now a freelance editorial consultant working with mainstream men's mags and their associated websites.
Hair loss experts have said that people who suffer from the compulsion to pull out their hair must be given more help by the NHS.
Trichotillomania is thought to affect up to one per cent of the British population, according to the Institute of Trichologists, who have said that the NHS must have more measures in place to offer fast help to those affected.
The Institute's chairman, Marilyn Sherlock, said that sufferers need to be able to have easy access to preventative treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and, most importantly, doctors needed to take it more seriously as a diagnosable illness.
Sherlock said, "The most common reaction faced by those who visited their doctors for advice was to 'Stop it, simple. Just don't do it.'"
"In general hair problems are not life threatening. For that reason they tend to be treated rather lightly, but they are much more of a problem because they are so visual.
One 19-year-old sufferer, who only wanted to be identified as Emily, said she started pulling out her hair at the age of nine, and endured years of long waiting lists and psychologists who did not understand the condition properly.
"Growing up was really hard because my friends - OK they had their own issues - but their hair was always nice," she said. Sometimes it would really upset me when they were like, 'Oh my hair's not nice today,' I thought, 'You can't really complain.'"
Trichotillomania is thought to affect up to one per cent of the British population, according to the Institute of Trichologists, who have said that the NHS must have more measures in place to offer fast help to those affected.
The Institute's chairman, Marilyn Sherlock, said that sufferers need to be able to have easy access to preventative treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and, most importantly, doctors needed to take it more seriously as a diagnosable illness.
Sherlock said, "The most common reaction faced by those who visited their doctors for advice was to 'Stop it, simple. Just don't do it.'"
"In general hair problems are not life threatening. For that reason they tend to be treated rather lightly, but they are much more of a problem because they are so visual.
One 19-year-old sufferer, who only wanted to be identified as Emily, said she started pulling out her hair at the age of nine, and endured years of long waiting lists and psychologists who did not understand the condition properly.
"Growing up was really hard because my friends - OK they had their own issues - but their hair was always nice," she said. Sometimes it would really upset me when they were like, 'Oh my hair's not nice today,' I thought, 'You can't really complain.'"