Split End Pickers?

I thought I was the only person who did this! I do it all the time and my parents yell at me but I just can't stop. I've been doing it since the 4th grade I think and I'm 22 now. Any idea of a name for this?

Its called trichotillomania, it can be as little as picking your split ends, too pulling out so much hair it leaves you with bald patches, I only pulled the split ends off. I still havent pulled, but its hard not too, please all try too, I had always wanted too, but never thought lets just stop for one day and see how I get on and if I manage that I will increase to two days, etc... etc... good luck to anyone trying.

I remember when I first noticed them; 7th grade math class. I was 12. 24 years later my obsession overpowers me daily. I wish I knew how to stop. I know that it is how I self-soothe. It effects my life daily. At work I use my scissors and cut the split ends off for hours. At home I blackmail my daughter into letting me pick her hair because she straightens her hair and has a ton of damage. I run my thumb nails down strands of hair to create damage to pick at; I sometimes do this so much that i can feel my thumb nails pull away from my thumbs. If I had to guess I would say that I spent about 7 to 8 hours today cutting off my damage. I know the answer is to just cut off my hair, but I can not let go. I feel lost.

You can get lost in yourself and time at its worse, I did it because it relaxed me and I enjoyed it, thats what made it even harder to stop, I still havent picked, I just went to earlier and I had to remind myself that I dont do that anymore, it does get easier, but I would definitely consider cognitive therapy ask a doctor, feel empowered and do it for yourself and the quality time you will give back to your family. GO FOR IT!!!

I read somewhere that this always starts at a young age (roughly 12-13) and it started to happen to me in 8th grade (12) and I'm 25 now. I also read in the same article that it's almost impossible to cure. Great. Whenever anybody tells me to stop, I always compare it to having smoked all your life and wanting to quit while having a lit cigarette permanently in your hand. I look relatively young but because of doing this for over a decade, I've developed some serious forehead wrinkles from looking up at my hair all the time. My forehead is 35 and my face is 18. This and the fact that my hair looks like shit and can never be long is the worst part for me. I had a pixie cut for about two years and didn't pick at the hair then because I couldn't see it. Since I started growing it out, it's started up again. I really wish this wasn't a thing :(

I started picking my split ends at age 13 when my friend showed me how to! I did it for about a year then just stopped! Until another friend reminded me that I used to do it and BAM there i was doing it again!!! Its been about 4 years now and im still doing it! One side of my hair is awful and its as though i have a bob on the left and mid length cut on the right! Its bloody awful and really wish I could stop :( When i get up from my chair, a whole shower of split ends fall to the ground and my family and friends shout at my constantly for doing it! My boyfriend even compared me to having a golden retriever! I want to stop so badly but dont know how to :/ I wear my hair up in a bun often but this causes even more breakage and then its just going round and round! Don't know how to stop and would really appreciate some help!!

This forum could be my lifesaver. Either way, I'm a 13 year old girl, turning 14 next month and basically all I do is picking split ends. I think it started some months ago when I just picked up my hair and studied the ends. And all of them were split, so I immidiately thought how I could prevent this. I though that if I pick the split end off I will end up with a healthy hairstraw, but from all of the comments I've read here on the forum it doesn't seem healthy at all. But the thing is that I seriously CAN'T STOP. My parents get really mad at me for doing this, but when they yell at me I just do it even more. A month ago I was on a 3 week vacation were I didn't really think of my hair, so since I got back I haven't picked that much. But I still pick them. I remember that I picked the ends while doing a test. Oh, and as I mentioned earlier I was on a vacation this summer and I actually cut my hair three times, but the ends are still there. It's driving me insane because I can't stop even if I want to. And I really don't wanna end up picking them for several years because then there's really no return. My hair in overall has always been really long, thick and straight. But now it's kinds of dry and frizzy too. So right now I'm looking for help from someone before it's too late!

I started picking my split ends when I was 12-13 my hair was down to my waist, now 10 years later I'm still picking my hair everyday expect its now like a Mohawk from the 80s it looks ridiculous but I'm not able to stop! To make it even worse my mums a hairdresser!!!

I can't believe (and am relieved) I'm not the only one who does this! I started doing this when I was in the 8th grade. This was the beginning of a very stressful and dark period in my life, and to cope with the stress I started picking off my split ends after seeing the heat damage. I naturally have very thick long hair, and I started to notice recently that my hair is thinning badly . I know it's more of an emotional thing for me and found comfort in it, but now I even do it subconciously. I hate that I do it, and makes me feel bad about myself, and when my dad sees me doing it he gets really angry as well. Here I am three years later, and am finally having the will power to do something about it.

I do this! I started maybe a year ago? I used to have long, thick wavy hair, now it's extremely thin and much shorter. It started when I seriously heat damaged my fringe and my hair would come out without too much pulling, and I liked how it felt. I don't like to pull hair straight from my scalp as it hurts, but I cut and pick my split ends- it looks like my hair is burnt...

Hey ladies!! First I want to start off by telling you all that I have the same problem and I feel so much better knowing I am not the only one! I have picked my hair since I was like 15, I am now 23 and I find myself constantly doing this. Yesterday my boyfriend told me to stop because it gives him anxiety and he doesn't like it. I felt really embarrassed. I know that the only SOLUTION IS GETTING MY NAILS DONE! Lol as silly as that sounds if you guys have nails (medium or longer lengths) it makes it hard/almost impossible to do this. I hope this helps you girls. I feel like I waste wayyyy too much time doing this and I hate that I do it, but I love doing it!! Its what gets me thru boring college classes and in between things. I will get my nails done soon and I will stop, reading this forum made me realize I will eventually damage my whole head and I don't want to do that. I hope this solution helps!

i just don't know what to do anymore

i don't even know how to begin finding that this forum exists. I've never really identified with the trichotillomania community because i have no interest in pulling my hair out at the root. I have naturally extremely curly hair (that i have straightened with a brazilian blowout) but I still have hairs that are extremely porous and bumpy with different textures. I am LITERALLY addicted to running my nails over the bumps and feeling the texture, the tension and the sorta clicky sensation that comes from doing it. I've been doing it since the 5th grade and now i'm 25. I usually don't do it in the mornings or afternoons, and I don't have the urge to do it around other people unless I'm comfortable around them, and then I can't stop. Like with my two roommates now I feel like they must think I'm crazy because i ALWAYS have my hand in my hair pulling. I think today is the first time in my life that I've mustered up the strength to deny the urge and I'm here on my bed feeling this tightness in my chest! I can't believe I'm not the only one who does this! I want to stop so badly but I don't know how to break a habit/addiction I've had for over half my life! Is there anyone else reading this currently? It looks like the last update was a few months ago and I really want this board to continue!

You all have no ideal how happy I am to find you. I use to have medium/long thick hair & for the past 5 years I have been picking my dead spilt ends. I my hair has grown but it's thinned out a lot from my breaking it off & lets not forget the highlights, blow drying, straightening & curling I've done to it everyday. I have a lot of areas that my hair is shorter than certain other spots & I just noticed last week that one side is shorter than the other side. I'm 43 years old & like others my age still want to look good for my husband & I would like to think others might find me attractive but with my hair it has caused my self-esteem to crumble. My husband always tells me to stop & I do cause it actually embarrasses me. Please help me with any advice you might have.

Does anyone have ways that they stopped doing this? I've started picking at the front strands and now have sort-of bangs because I've pulled so much, and I feel like I'm almost going a little bald in front because I'm breaking off so much hair. Sometimes I even cut off the ends with manicure scissors, but it never helps because I just find more ends to break and then the more I pick, the more there are! I do it a lot when I drive, at work, or when I'm just sitting around. I even do it without realizing and other people point it out! Ugh it's terrible.

i am actually crying as I type this I cannot believe that I am not alone. this is amazing. I have been pulling the split ends off my hair since I was 16 and am not 29. Like alot of you say, I used to have long thick dark hair but now it is so thin. I have had it highlighted in the past and that has not helped. I have also gone through stages of getting it cut into a bob to try and start a fresh but I simply cannot stop looking for split ends. I spend anything from 2-10 hours a day picking at my split ends. the damage to my hair is bad but the time I lose from my life is even worse. My boyfriend is quite hairy so I spend a lot of time pulling the split ends from his leg and chest hair too! I have never ever told anyone about my habit and try to keep it a secret. There is always a trail of hair behind me everywhere I go! I have recently been diagnosed with depression and also go and see a councillor once a week for other low confidence issues. I feel like the hair picking just goes hand in hand with all that. I want to stop so so badly to regain some control over my life. But is in an addiction, and not one that I could ever tralk about with anyone as there is no way they would take me seriously. Has anyone else ever been to the doctor about this? Do they take us seriously? I am off to make an appointment with my hairdresser today (I am getting no work done at work as I have been in hair picking mode all day) to get a few inches cut off to see how long I can go this time. This is an amazing forum and I am guessing this is not something any of us can talk about with other people. So lets work together and share our progress. one last thing.... does any one else feel excited at the though of bright sunshine shining into their car so they can get a beautiful sunlit backdrop onto their hair? It makes the split ends stand out beautifully. so weird!!!!!

It feels so good to not be alone, I feel like such a freak. I've wasted a ridiculous amount of my life pulling apart split ends. The best is sitting in front of sunlight and doing it. I have really healthy hair apparently but over the years I have damaged it. I remember when I was younger if I couldn't find any I would just rip out strands and snap them apart to create a split but after realizing the certain parts I pulled a lot were becoming more noticeable I very rarely actually rip it out now. It feels like an uncontrollable urge that once I start I'll keep at it for hours or as long as life will allow before someone comes around me ect. I've even wasted time at work doing it when the opportunity arose. Doing it in front of a white computer screen in a favorite way as well. It's so sickening. I tried telling a therapist about it once but she didn't ask much about it and kind of shrugged it of like it was no big deal. I know I have major issues with self confidence and obsess over it in my head thinking I'm not good enough though in reality I'm not all the bad. I've had anxiety issues in the past and depression. I don't know how to overcome this but am glad to know we aren't alone. My one biggest issue is how badly I need laser hair removal. When I was young my issue started out because I had hairy arms and got made fun of a bit for it. Later on in life I started shaving them which made me feel nearly 100% better but it's quite a hassle because I have to do it daily which makes my showers super long which annoys my partner. But after I felt better about my arms I started noticing other problem areas like my upper lip and sideburns. My upper lip I can somewhat get away with just waxing but my sideburns are a huge issue. I have spent hundreds on different products trying to get rid of it with no luck yet and it affect my everyday life on a high level. Under no circumstance will I wear my hair up even in the summer heat, even though it look really good up. If my partner tried to hold my face I'm mortified with embarrassment and try to pull away. We've been together for a year and a half now and I've never felt comfortable with it. I just want to be normal and live a normal life not having to worry about these little issues that most people don't have to deal with. It's holding me back from growing as a person.

Hey all. Much like the others here, I'm addicted to peeling my split ends and can't seem to stop. I have been doing it for 10 years now, and I have DAMAGED MY EYESIGHT it's so bad. Holding the hairs so close to my face, pulling them over my head and down in front of my eyes and focusing my vision so closely to see them, I now need glasses because its hard for my eyes to adjust focusing in and out and I can no longer see distances. I'm one of those people who gets them, split all the way up the hair shaft, looks like a feather. I've gotten hairs that had hundreds of splits, running the full length from root to tip and those are SO satisfying. I have even taken pictures of them because of it. :/ don't even know how many times I've sat in my car in the parking lot or the driveway for an hour just peeling away because the lighting is so good, I know you all understand exactly what I mean! I have suffered anxiety and depression my entire life, since just before kindergarten. And have been diagnosed with dermatillomania back when I was around 12 years old... I used to sit there for HOURS every single day and my arms legs and parts of my torso were completely covered with scabs and bumps, I think I must have hit every pore on my body. People don't understand how hard it is to control these urges or even what would tempt us to do something that may seem bizarre but its hard to explain!! It has always felt to me like "grooming". I felt like I was cleaning myself and ridding myself of imperfections. Bumps, oil, etc. now at 23 years old I suddenly have little urge to pick, but still peel my split ends like a crazy person. While driving, while talking to people it's embarrassing but if I see a split end I just have to peel it because if I don't it will bother me knowing its there somewhere! It's interesting seeing all of us having the same issues. I have self esteem issues and image problems as well as pretty gnarly anxiety, this definitely stems from these issues. Just thought I would throw my 2 cents in especially when I saw the girl saying she is crying because she felt like the only one. You're not alone girl, I know the feeling :) hey there are worse habits! At least none of us are hurting others! Take care all.