People with trichotillomania, an impulse control disorder, cannot resist the urge to pull out their own hair. The disorder is treatable, but different treatments work for different people. Some sufferers have success with cognitive behavioral therapy, others with antidepressants, peer support groups or alternative therapies like meditation and yoga. Hypnosis is another treatment option known to help people with trichotillomania gain control over their compulsion.
History
Hair pulling can be focused on the scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows, beard, chest or other parts of the body. It generally results in obvious bald spots and, more seriously, feelings of shame and self-imposed social isolation. The Trichotillomania Learning Center estimates that 2 to 10 million Americans suffer from the disorder. It strikes children and adults alike of both genders, although 80 to 90 percent of afflicted adults are women. The cause is unknown, however, a 2006 Duke University Medical Center study identified a gene mutation that may be responsible for some cases of hair pulling.
Treatment
Hypnotists generally use one of two different approaches to trichotillomania. One is indirect and gentle, and works by suggesting the urge to pull hair strikes, the person take control of the situation and, say, stroke her arm instead. The other approach is more direct and involves suggestions that link with something unpleasant. One technique, for example, involves suggesting that, every time a hair puller reaches for his hair, his scalp will feel so sensitive that touching it would be painful.
Children
Research has shown that children with trichotillomania do well with hypnosis when overbearing parents also stop harping on them and cede control of the matter to the children themselves. In a 2003 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, three children gave up hair pulling after seven sessions of hypnosis combined with changes in parental behavior. They also remained trichotillomania-free at a six-month follow-up.
Method
Hypnotism largely works on the premise that when you are in a trance---a state of deep concentration, but not sleep---your mind is more open to suggestion that are compatible with your goals. You feel everything you're asked to visualize vividly and intensely. Hypnotic suggestion, however, doesn't overpower one's own sense of self. A hypnotist cannot make you do anything you don't want to do. Most sessions last 30 to 60 minutes. After a session is over, you may or may not remember what happened.
Considerations
About 15 to 20 percent of people are hard to hypnotize. Yet research by Steven Lynn, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Binghamton University, State University of New York, has shown that even the latter group---typically people who believe a lot of myths about hypnosis, such as that the therapist will ask them to do something embarrassing---can become very suggestible if taught more about the process.
Finding
While many "certified" lay hypnotists can handle simple problems very well, it's hard to tell how much training they had to get hypnotized. The most reputable certification comes from the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
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