Stages of trich recovery

Here are some stages of recovery which I found happening to most people when they discover that they have a disorder called trich.

1 - Freedom/relief/tears etc .....when realizing you're not alone/crazy

2 - Awareness ....... of where your hands are, how many pulled etc.

3 - Getting to the point where you REALLY want to become pull-free. This is important - sometimes one are not ready for that yet. Sometimes there are just too many hurts that has to be dealt with. Don't worry about it.... get some emotional healing first! It is much more important than becoming pull free. Crazy talk, you say? No, I don't believe so.

4 - Decrease in pulling

5 - Trying to become pull free.... not succeeding

6 - Getting the strength to keep on trying, keep on trying, keep on trying (can be very tryingand can become despondant at first)

7 - Still keep on trying

8 - And then one day..... that first day pull free!!

9 - Either going on, or slipping......

10 - If slipping..... go back to #6, until you reach #12

11 - Suddenly realizing ... even if I slip.... I'm still ok, and I don't have to beat myself up because of it. THAT is progress! A huge achievement.

12 - Another pull free day, and another, and another...

13 - More slips.......... but NOW with the determination to get up immediately, and start again. NOT falling to the deepest depths, thinking that you will never be able to do it etc. As Marge said...... a marathon, not a sprint!

Here are Marge's stages....

I agree that fighting trich has a number of stages.

1)   Learning to be pull-free.

2)   Learning to continue to be pull-free after the novelty of it has worn off and the reality of living with a chronic disorder sets in.

3)   Being excited about the new hair growing and then having to deal with all of that new growth. It is especially hard in that stage if you have long hair and the little short ones really start to be noticable. I chose to cut my hair to a short style to help me cope during this stage. It will take quite a long time for the new hair to reach a long length and if your hair is shorter you will feel the success much quicker.

4)  (Amanda again)  Can I add another stage - after years of short hair, when I started growing my hair again (after not pulling from my head for a few years already), it became VERY difficult to resist the coarse, kinky hair - there was so much more of them to touch. So that was another stage that I found to be difficult.

 And here, some more pearls of wisdom.....

Warning: Those of you who have not yet reached 4 or more weeks of pull free: BE PREPARED FOR THE FOLLOWING "BENEFITS" OF GROWING HAIR IN PREVIOUSLY BALD PLACES:

1. Curly, kinky hair sticking out like Alfalfa's hair (character from the Little Rascals) and there is almost nothing you can do about it. I know; I've tried.

2. Kids, and immature adults, making unwelcome comments about the above-mentioned hairs.

3. New hair growth a different color from that of longer hair (this may be due to either nature or artificial hair coloring).

4. Now that your hair is of a workable length, not knowing, what styles to start wearing.

5. Waiting for compliments from people but not getting them.

Just wanted to warn ya'll; BECOMING PULL FREE FOR ANY LONGER LENGTH OF TIME WILL RELEASE OTHER PROBLEMS FOR WHICH YOU NEED TO HAVE ANSWERS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN. Otherwise you may relapse, like I had done a few years ago. I wish someone had prepared me; might have been a bit easier on me. After awhile these problems will go away, they haven't yet for me. I'm sure they will, right Amanda & Marge?   (yipp... (Amanda)