|
What is Trichotillomania?
Trichotillomania (TTM) is currently classified as an impulse control disorder in the 4th Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, it also shares features with obsessive-compulsive disorder and other obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders such as self-injurious skin picking.
NEW download reference materials from the symposium Click Here!
The current diagnostic criteria include:
- Recurrent pulling of one's own hair resulting in noticeable hair loss
- An increasing sense of tension immediately before pulling out the hair or when attempting to not pull
- Pleasure, gratification, or relief while pulling hair
- The hair pulling is not better accounted for by another mental disorder or an underlying dermatologic condition.
- The disturbance causes significant distress or disturbance in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (APA, 1994).
Of note, many people do not meet all of these criteria, but still pull their hair to a bothersome degree.
The Massachusetts General Hospital Trichotillomania Clinic & Research Unit is located in downtown Boston and is easily accessible by public transportation. The clinic is located at the following address:
Charles River Plaza
Simches Research Building
185 Cambridge St., Fl. 2
Boston, MA 02114
For further information or to schedule an appointment, please contact Katie Scales or Barbara Davidson at (617) 726-6766.
For further information about research studies please call Mariko Jameson at (617) 726-9281.
|
Psychiatry Department Home Page
