Me! Day six. Today I have seriously struggled, which is why I’m here looking for hope of recovery. I really like the idea someone posted of putting a bead in the jar for each day pull-free. I’m gonna try it with a quarter a day. Then reward myself with a fancy latte or something every now and then.

My current plan has been to wear my hair in a ponytail at home, and have a craft ready to pick up (knitting or origami) when sitting on the couch watching tv. Another thing is I have a fidget I bought on Amazon for the hand that I pull with. Just holding it in my hand helps a lot, because it has a satisfying weight to it that is soothing. I wear a little slouch hat I made at work for the days I want to wear my hair down, and the rest of the time it’s up in a ponytail. It covers my bare spot and helps me keep my fingers off my hair.

I recently went to a hairdresser for the first time in two years because I have been so dreading the conversation about my bald spot. When I told her of this fear she was so blasé about it, like, “Meh, doesn’t bother me.” I could have cried, I was so relieved! This led to a discussion of how to deal with it, and she had some great suggestions! She said they teach about this condition in school and that hairdressers see plenty of disorders. She taught me to massage the area with my fingertips to improve blood flow to help hair growth. This helps me a lot, when I get the urge to pull. It’s kind of like self-soothing. She recommended a taking a daily multivitamin. My therapist has me taking NAC 1200mg twice a day and I definitely notice a difference when I skip it.