WHEN Chrissy Thorpe’s parents noticed their daughter appeared to be losing patches of hair from her scalp at the age of five, they decided to seek answers.

The reason behind the hair loss was a mystery – there was no illness and Chrissy didn’t seem to be upset about anything at home or school.

After asking her teachers to keep an eye on her, it was then that something very curious was spotted. Seemingly, without being aware she was doing it, Chrissie was pulling her own hair out.

Now 22, Chrissy, from Huntington, has been diagnosed with Trichotillomania, a psychological condition where sufferers are unable to stop themselves pulling out their own hair, whether from the scalp, eyebrows, face or any part of the body.

The NHS describes the condition as: “An intense urge to pull your hair out and growing tension until you do. After pulling out your hair, you will feel a sense of relief.”

This description, however, doesn’t sit with Chrissy’s own experience and she says she doesn’t realise when she is pulling at her scalp.

“Sometimes I will notice I am doing it,” she said. “I think maybe I do know I’m doing it but it’s so normal I don’t realise – a bit like people who bite their nails.

“When I look in the mirror and notice a patch of hair has gone I actually cry.”

It is perhaps tempting to put the cause of such unusual behaviour down to stress or worry, but Chrissy insists that is not the cause and that it can happen when she is perfectly happy, concentrating on something or just bored.

She said: “For the past two weeks I have been at home on my own because I hurt my back, and I have been pulling my hair lots.

“When I saw what I had done I just cried and ended up shaving my head because I had lost so much. But even though I shaved it I can still see the patches because the parts I had pulled out I pulled from the root.”

She said: “I just want long hair like any other woman.”

According to the online support group trichotillomania.co.uk, the condition affects between one and three per cent of the population, though it is understood to be more common amongst women.

The organisation says the effects of pulling can vary from un-noticeable to complete hair-loss and the disorder can also affect self-esteem and lifestyle. Some people eat part or all of the hair, stroke, count, store or fiddle with the hair after pulling.

As a child, Chrissy said she was offered counselling by her doctor. “My parents feel really bad about it now because they sort of laughed when counselling was mentioned. I had a really good childhood and nobody understood or seemed to know about the condition back then.

“Stress has nothing to do with it. I can be really happy and still be doing it.”

Chrissy said she often feels as though she is on her own when it comes to her condition, and even though she has now been diagnosed with Trichotillomania, she says it’s hard to meet fellow sufferers, though she knows they are out there and now hopes to start up a support group for people in the York area.

“I have never actually met anybody who does it but I have heard of people and support groups on the internet,” she said.

“But I’m not a big fan of talking on the web – I would prefer to meet someone face to face.

“I’m hoping to raise awareness so other people who don’t understand the condition may begin to. People just haven’t heard about it.

“I want people in York to get in touch and I would be willing start up some sort of self help group.”

To get in touch with Chrissy email her at chrissythorpe@live.co.uk