Children pulling their hair or eyelashes can often be a natural stress response akin to fidgeting. While not inherently alarming, excessive pulling may indicate trichotillomania, a mental health disorder where children feel an uncontrollable urge to pull out their hair as a form of self-soothing. This behavior often emerges during puberty, around ages 10 to 13, possibly linked to hormonal changes. Experts emphasize the importance of assessing the severity and impact on daily life and remind parents to remain calm as effective treatments are available.
Hair pulling can be something that people do when they're stressed, like tapping your foot or chewing on a pencil. When kids aren't pulling out enough hair that it's noticeable and it's just sort of a part of a repertoire of things they do, that's one thing.
When hair pulling becomes more noticeable or interferes with daily life, that's trichotillomania, which the Child Mind Institute describes as 'a mental health disorder that causes kids to have an uncontrollable urge to pull out their hair.'
The pulling is a way of self-soothing, and is not a form of self-harm. It often begins between ages 10 and 13, and experts theorize it may have something to do with the influx of hormones in kids' bodies heading into puberty.
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