Hattie's Story | @my_trich_journey

At age 8 I was an avid nail biter, so my mum said she'd pay me £1 per nail I stopped biting. Being a young entrepreneur, I was thrilled at the prospect of getting £10, so managed to stop biting my nails, but shortly after, I started pulling hair from my scalp instead. In my adult life, I learnt that nail-biting, hair-pulling and skin-picking all belong to a family called Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours (BFRB).

I'm Hattie and I've had a condition called Trichotillomania for over 20 years.

Often shortened to trich (because it's an absolute mouthful to say), this disorder is when someone has the uncontrollable urge to repeatedly pull out their hair from their body. This includes (but is not exhaustive of) the scalp, eyebrows or eyelashes.

I'm a passionate advocate for raising awareness of Trichotillomania because of the stigma attached to it, it can be a very isolating disorder, and I want to make sure that those with Trichotillomania know that they’re not alone. I’m also in a very privileged position because I’ve always had very supportive family, friends and peers of my condition, so it's incredibly important to me to give a voice to those who are struggling to let them know that they can find support, understanding and help.

At age 8 I was an avid nail biter, so my mum said she'd pay me £1 per nail I stopped biting.

Being a young entrepreneur, I was thrilled at the prospect of getting £10, so managed to stop biting my nails, but shortly after, I started pulling hair from my scalp instead. In my adult life, I learnt that nail-biting, hair pulling and skin-picking all belong to a family called Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours (BFRB). And presumably, I'm quite susceptible to them as I seem to have collected them all! It may also explain why when I stopped biting my nails I started to pull out my hair instead. Personally used as my security blanket, I tend to pull my hair out when I felt anxious, sad or nervous and it helps to soothe me.

After struggling with Trichotillomania for most of my life and my pulling getting to the worst it had ever been (my bald patch measured about 9x8" on the top of my head), in October 2019 I decided enough was enough and that I was going to put all my energy into stopping. I discovered an amazing Instagram community of people not only with trich but going through hair loss for a whole host of reasons. This really inspired me to create my own Instagram profile to document my hair journey and is how I also stumbled into the wonderful world of wigs and toppers.

 The change of mindset from finding this community on Instagram helped me no end and realising that toppers and wigs were an option for me has given me the freedom and hair I've never been able to have previously. After creating my Instagram account I managed to be pull free for 2.5 years but recently relapsed after struggling with my mental health towards the end of 2022. Whilst some of my hair grew back in that time, it's looking like I've permanently damaged follicles in a few areas on my head.

Wearing hair pieces is liberating because it gives me the freedom to try different styles, lengths and colours and I love that I am able to have fun and turn my bald patch into a positive experience. I always say that toppers were literally made for me because they cover my bald spot perfectly and more importantly, they stop my hands from getting to my hair to pull it out.

I love creating educational content about toppers and wigs to share with people because if it wasn’t for Instagram I’d have never realised these were an option for me either. I also know how utterly terrifying buying your first piece can be. When I bought my first hairpiece, I literally stuffed it into the back of the wardrobe for two weeks because I was so terrified of how to put it on and if it would look “wiggy”. I watched so many videos on Instagram (and thank you to all the amazing women out there that make sure amazing content) on how to put on a topper and how to style it so that it would lay flat and be seamless at the front, how to wash it etc and the more I practised the more my confidence grew with alternative hair. It can feel really overwhelming buying a hairpiece because let’s be honest they’re not cheap at all, but I hope my content helps people feel more confident in buying and wearing theirs.

Finding Peluka Salon was a godsend to me and over the last three years I’ve sent them many of my wigs and toppers to customise to my personal preference (they have a postal service as well as a salon, which was a godsend in lockdown). I believe this is absolutely key to making a hairpiece feel more you and less “wiggy”. And Peluka Salon’s expertise in the alternative hair world is invaluable and I trust them with my beloved hair pieces. It’s really important to find a salon that understands alternative hair because it’s not the same as bio hair at all. 

I’m so proud to be part of such an amazing community and I’m glad I get to give back by creating educational content and raising awareness of trichotillomania.