Charlie's story

SINS OF SILENCE

What do we think of when we speak of a sin?? Do we mean it in a way that sketches the images of commiting a murderous act, commiting adultery or even just telling a plain old lie. Everyone of those examples are known to be sins, but what about a Silent Sin. Have you or anyone that you know of ever encountered a silent sin. Well if you haven't then let me take you into the world of people who are sometimes insecure about who they are, people who are afraid to come out into the light from fear of embarrasment, let me introduce you to a friend of mine, Charlie the Trichotillamaniac.

*Charlie used to live a normal life, uptill the age of 13 when strange things used to happen to him. He would find himself pulling his own hair off his head without knowing it and not knowing how to control it. At this point in his life Charlie did not need this kind of worry, he was a very popular boy with both his peers and his teachers, but for some reason things were not going as he had planned. He started faking illnesses in order not to go to school, but with all due respect, could you blame him, think about it, would you want to go to school if this were happening to you.

His parents did not think anything of it at first but then bald spots started to appear on his head and they knew that something was desperately wrong. They confronted him, but he got defensive and denied knowing anything about what they were saying, giving an excuse that he was only going bald because of the side effects of the medicines that he had been taking. His mom and dad telephoned the doctor right away very concerned, he verified that the medication could in fact cause this to happen, but that they should not worry because it should be gone in no longer than a week. They were relieved but only for a while because little did they know, more and more patches were forming on Charlie's head. At this point there was a lot of frustration in Charlie's house. His parents were very worried and were questioning him all the time, he took this as a sign that they were against him and this is where the insecurity part came up.

This love-hate relationship went on for about a month, his parents were to scared to question him about how worse he was getting in fear of him never opening up, when one day on 702 there was a discussion on the radio about a mental illness that caused people to pull out the hair on their heads and even in other places. His parents were dumbfounded, but they called this person at home the next night anyway.She advised them to come and have a meeting with her, it would be just her, them and of course my friend Charlie.She took one look at him, sat him down and started asking him questions, with every answer she would jot down little notes to herself on her examination pad. Once she had finished, she gave him a kind smile and said "I know what is wrong with you, in fact there is a name for your condition, and will you beleive this, you aren't the first person to have this, there are over a million people in the world that suffer from this illness".Charlie had what was called TRICHOTILLAMANIA

This mental illness causes a person to pull hair from their heads, eyelashes, eyebrows or anywhere that they could find, there was something good though, Charlie could have treatment to help him control his urges, but Charlie did not want this, he didn't want to take some form of medication, now that he knew what it was and that some very brave people had actually overcome it, he wanted to give it a shot as well.

Charlie fought hard, he had the toughest obstacles standing in his way, but you know what, he fought them off good and strong so that they would never surface again, he stopped and said to me that he knows that the feelings and powerful urges will always be there deep down, always wanting to resurface, but to let them resurface and mess up your life all over again is not worth it, you just have to be strong and take whatever dissapointments come your way.

Today Charlie is, and I am safe to say doing fine, he is not even in intense therapy anymore. He has his confidence back and can walk into school and in public without a care in the world.

Trichotillamaniacs are special people, they are not wierd, abnormal or dumb, they are just people who learn far more about life in one day than most people will in their whole life.

The story of my friend Charlie, I thought had to be told, not only so that everyone will know how brave he is, but also because the illness that he has is not as well known as it should be.This verse is very sentimental and if you really read it carefully, you will see from reading this tragic yet happy ending story that it pertains to the life of the Trichotillamaniac, who says this verse upon waking up and going to sleep.

S. H. Payer once wrote:

Live each day to the fullest.

Get the most from each hour, each day, and each age of your life.

Then you can look forward with confidence,

and back without regrets.

*Name has been changed