The chronic nature of trich, and help to accept it
Credit (Pam and Sue P)
TTM #27: Chronic Nature of Trich, and Help in Accepting It.
Here is the rest of the conversation from the other remailer - Sue P
said I could repost her answer to my letter here. Sue makes some really
good points about the Chronic nature of Trich - and also very good
advice on how to accept it - and start a good path to recovery. Also a
link to a good article.
Because I have webtv - the text doesn't stay 'small' when I copy and
paste - so I typed in who said what - although Sue was responding to my
letter. (sue had included text from my origianl email).
Hope this helps
Love to All!
Pam
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(Email From: Sue P)
Subject: Re: KT Parts of Hair: bulb, follicle3
Pam: A lot of pullers started by pulling hair out for innocuos reasons -
girls sleep-over comparing whos hair was longest - biology class to look
at under a microscope - pulling out a grey hair - having lice picked out
of their hair -- and after 1 pull they are all hooked.
Pam: That is just one of the things that points to a brain component -
not necessarily a chemical imbalance - if it was a specific chemical
imbalnace 1 medication would work for everyone or at least a very large
% of us.
Sue P: Absolutely. And I'd like to point out, I know you weren't saying
this, but if people think professionals hold the view "trich is due to a
chemical imbalance in the brain", Mike Grant posted his notes from the
1998 TLC Conference in Philadelphia where in fact the doctors made it
clear that trich is NOT due to a chemical imbalance in the brain. And
that "serotonin does not equal hair and hair does not equal serotonin."
(these notes are on Amanda's site) There seems to be something
biological going on, but it's not as clearcut as it is with OCD.
Pam: The fact that we are biologically marked to have this disease -
does not rule out any of the methods that TTM'ers use to decrease their
urges.
Sue P: I really believe this too. Biology to me helps explain some
things such as how so many of us developed the same rituals such as
playing with or eating the root, in complete isolation. And how someone
can pull 1 as you noted and become immediately hooked. Biology can also
explain why it feels good or "right" when I pull from my favorite areas.
But now that I know these things, it's still up to ME to find ways not
to pull even though it feels good, etc. Just like an alcoholic (another
disorder that seems to have a biological/genetic component) has to find
ways not to drink even though they really want to.
Pam: What foods you eat, exercise, meditation, emotional therapy,
religion, etc. - they all affect your entire body systems in good ways,
(food in some good some bad ways depending on what food) -- heart rate,
stress levels, immune sysmtem, hormones, chemical conversions, etc. --
so it is not a surprise to me that people attending to their health and
happiness in any way would experience a reduction in pulling. It is all
related in the end. We just don't understand all the complexities yet.
Sue P: I believe all this. My personal theory if that's what it is, is
that people with trich have sensitive nervous systems, and once pulling
is ingrained the urge to pull rears itself when something gets out of
balance, either physical or emotional. This has helped me emotionally
because I have come to see the urge as something that is trying to be my
friend. It is trying to make me pay attention to something I need to pay
attention to. It may just mean I've been sitting at my desk too long and
need to stretch, or that I may have gotten myself too tired and I need
to get off the computer NOW and go to bed, or maybe I'm really upset
about something and I need to work through the feelings.
Sue P: This is why it's hard to take someone else's success and apply it
to me. Whatever they did takes care of how their nervous system was out
of balance, but if mine is not out of whack in the same way, trying
their soluation might not have any affect on my pulling at all.
Sue P: And it's not usually just one thing that works for someone, so
even if their solution (say, diet) helps me too, maybe they are doing
other things too they didn't even think to mention because it was
already part of their lifestyle (say, spirituality). If I only look at
the one thing they say they did, I wouldn't understand why it works so
much better for them than me.
Pam: It is also not a surpise to me that the highest % of Pull Free
People in the over 5 years pull free - do NOT rely on 1 thing to reduce
their urges -- most use a combination of things --they also have figured
out the other pieces of 'their' puzzle -- finding the emotional reasons
behind their pulling, healing emotinal issues, combating hte illogical
thoughts, finding pulling patterns -- plus keeping in touch with other
TTTM'ers, barrier methods, 'tricks', diet, exercise, religion,
meditation, journaling, etc.
Sue P: I've seen that too. And everybody's combination of things is
different, but I see spiritual work as a very common component --
indeed, many of the things you list are spiritual endeavors.
Pam: Yeah, there are a few stories out there of people who it was 'easy'
for meaning they just do 1 thing and the disease disapears - but that is
not the experience of most. And I am not going to set up any new people
or uninformed people for more dissapointment, setbacks and failure. I
want everyone to do the most good things for themselves that they have
available to them.
Pam: I do use the Fish Oil, but I have also: educated myself about my
condition, worked on emotional isssues, worked on habits, combated
illogical thought patterns (internal dialogue), plus other things. As
HAPPY as I am with the reduction in urges from taking the fish oil - I
have NO intention of relying on one thing. The Trich Monster is very
ingrained in our thought patterns and physical habits after so many
years of pulling - so bottom line is for most people it takes a lot of
work to fight it. I know that is not hte answer most people want to hear
- but that is the truth.
Sue P: The biggest leap forward I've had in fighting my trich was when I
truly accepted the nature of recovery as being how you describe it. One
thing that really helped me get in that frame of mind was Dr. Fred
Penzels' article on Acceptance. (it's written for folks with OCD, but
most applies to trich too.)
Sue P: Here is the part that helped me the most, where I substituted
"trich" where he had "OCD":
"- You have Trich.
- Trich is chronic - it won't simply go away on its own.
- No one can "make" you better. You have to learn to help yourself with
informed guidance.
- You had no choice in having trich. It is neither fair nor unfair, it
just happens to people according to the laws of chance.
- Getting well takes time and patience, and is hard work.
- In order to confront your disorder, you will experience anxiety and
discomfort at times.
- Progress toward recovery doesn't always go smoothly.
- Being in recovery doesn't mean you will forever be 100 percent
symptom-free. Once in recovery, you will continue to work on your trich
each day, although not as inten-sively as time goes on.
- You can slip sometimes and still keep your recovery."
Sue P: Once I truly accepted those things, I became much stronger on the
path to recovery.
Full article is at:
http://www.homestead.com/westsuffolkpsych/Articles.html
Sue P: There are a lot of other articles here, many written specifically
for people with trich.
Sue P
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