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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Is pulling my hair out a form of self harm?

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    Anxiety Depression Mental Health
    I have just started pulling my hair out in clumps! I suffer from anxiety and depression and I have been prescribed Zoloft to help with this. I don't know if the hair pulling could be linked or self harm?
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    Dr Simon Easterbrook-Smith

    Health Professional

    My research interests include immunology and the mechanisms of amyloid formation. The latter has implications for people who are dealing with Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease … View Profile

    Writing as somebody who is a volunteer administrator of a world-wide forum which supports people who self-injure, hair-pulling (trichotillomania) is seen as a form of self-injury.
     
    However, the nature of the self-injury (trichotillomania, cutting, burning, etc) is much less important than the reasons which lead people to use self-injury as a coping mechanism.
     
    It might help if you reflected on your reasons and discussed them with members of your mental health care team.

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