Since antiquity, the compulsive urge to pull one's own hair has been observed but never fully understood, and for decades medicine assumed it was the body's answer to emotional pain. A new study from Heidelberg University Hospital quietly unsettles that assumption, finding that boredom and under-stimulation may be as powerful a driver as anxiety or distress. In the long human story of seeking relief from the unbearable — whether from too much feeling or too little — this research suggests the two extremes may be closer than we imagined.
New Study Reveals Boredom, Not Just Stress, Drives Hair-Pulling Disorder
Trichotillomania causes hair loss and significant psychological or social impairment for affected individuals.