Dr. Phil (die bekende Amerikaanse psychiater) heeft een gelijkaardig geval in zijn show gehad. Ik heb het even voor je opgezocht - als het niet lukt met het Engels dan vertaal ik wel even de belangrijkste dingen voor je. Meer info over Dr. Phil vind je op
http://www.drphil.com/. Als je "trichotillomania" intikt bij "search" dan kom je vanzelf bij het onderstaande verhaal terecht:
"Hayley received a doll and she pulled the hair out of the doll. We took the doll away from her and then she started immediately pulling her own hair out," says Denise of her 3-year-old daughter, who has been pulling her hair out for almost a year. When it started, Denise was seven months pregnant. "I would find clumps of hair everywhere — under her pillow, in her bed. It was just a matter of months, she was practically bald on her right side."
Denise explains that it is soothing for Hayley, who often pulls clumps of hair while sucking her thumb, and then holds the hair in her hands. "She wouldn't do it in front of me, but I could hear it. The sound is a ripping noise. It would turn my stomach," Denise explains. Hayley is also pulling out the hair of her Barbies. "If she has a doll with hair, she will rip it out. Anything with hair," Denise says.
Denise had to cut Hayley's hair very short and shaved the sides so it would match the bald spots. "Everyone calls her a boy, and that concerns me," Denise admits. "Hayley has tried to pull my hair. It is a concern that she will turn on the baby. My fear is that she will never stop."
"It's really important to understand that a lot of these impulse behaviors serve a purpose," Dr. Phil tells Denise. "It almost always has to do with a release of tension, frustration, a feeling of powerlessness, anxiety, all of those sort of things. And the best way that you could change that is to put another thing in its place that is just as efficient."
He points out that because Hayley is so young, Denise cannot do the cognitive therapy with her, but she needs to recognize that this started for a reason. It started when Denise was seven months pregnant, when all of sudden the attention was not all focused on Hayley. "All of this focus on what's going to happen, and then the baby comes and it could create anxiety," Dr. Phil points out. "It's hard for her to get her mind around that, and so it can be very unsettling ... you really need to help her [release tension] in a different way and you could do it preventively."
He suggests teaching her to soothe herself with music, and making her a caregiver to one of her dolls. "Have her teach the doll what you want her to learn. Brush her hair, tell her it's pretty and we're going to take care of it. We're going to lay right down now and rest, relax, play a game, listen to music. The fastest way to learn is to teach," he explains. "If she starts to pull again, there has to be a clear negative consequence for her doing that. Something that she doesn't like. And you have to reward her for when she does not. And I think you'll see this go away really quick."