How to Stop Hair Pulling: Real Stories

Read real stories and personal experiences about changing your relationship with hair pulling. Find support and encouragement from people who understand.

I started pulling at my hair when I was 12. I still remember the first time: one strand came out, and, as strange as it sounds, the feeling made me happy.

I’m now in my forties. I still have my hair, but I find myself touching and pulling at it without meaning to. For years, nothing I tried helped. Recently, I found something that does: I put tape around my thumbs. To pull at my hair, I need to feel the strands between my fingers, and the tape stops me from doing that.

I still catch myself doing it sometimes when I’m not wearing the tape. It hasn’t made the habit disappear, but it’s the first thing that has helped me interrupt it.

I slowly moved from shame and secrecy to getting curious about when and why I was pulling. Awareness of patterns became the foundation for choosing competing actions and eventually supporting other people with the same condition. For me, recovery has been more about managing it and losing the shame than finding a simple permanent cure.

I noticed that boredom, not stress, was the main trigger—especially searching for coarse or irregular hairs. Identifying the sensory target helped me interrupt scanning and keep hands occupied. By then, I had gone about a year and a half without pulling.

Therapy helped me, but it wasn't always enough when I started pulling automatically. A wrist-worn awareness device alerted me when the hand moved toward the usual pulling area, creating a brief opportunity to choose another action. Personal connection and reduced shame were as important as the technology.

I experimented with a small tactile object that provided resistance and a pulling-like sensation during meetings. Keeping it in a notebook made it available in high-risk settings. It didn't make the urge disappear completely, but it helped by redirecting some urges without damaging hair or skin.

At 33, I reported pulling since around age nine, possibly beginning during childhood trauma. I came to view pulling as self-soothing rather than a moral failure.