Dear Ann....

Dear Ann: In the early 1980s, you printed a letter that changed my
life. A mother wrote for help with her daughter who compulsively
pulled out her eyelashes and eyebrows.

I was 12 years old when I began pulling out my eyelashes and eyebrows.
I felt alone and crazy
until I read that letter in your column. You responded with kindness
and told her that millions of
people do this and it has a name -- trichotillomania. Today, because
of your letter, I am whole
emotionally. I am still addressing this condition, but I have no shame
and no longer suffer in
isolation. I know one day I'll be able to stop.

Years later, you printed letters by two other sufferers. You referred
them to the Trichotillomania
Learning Center. Please print the address again so others can be
helped as I was.

-- C.S. in Sacramento, Calif.


Ann says: With pleasure. An estimated 8 million to 10 million people
in the United States have
trichotillomania, and most of them still feel they are ''the only
ones.''

The Trichotillomania Learning Center is the nation's only resource
center devoted to helping people with this disorder. It provides
information on treatment referrals and current medical knowledge and
networking, and assists in setting up support groups. When I mentioned
the organization last time, more than 16,000 wrote to TLC to ask for
help and information.

For information, send $3 to: Trichotillomania Learning Center Inc.,
1215 Mission St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (www.trich.org). Because you
wrote, many others will be helped as you were.