Trich Adventure

I went on a hair related adventure today. I’m a little sleepy now, but check back soon to see what happened.

Are you a member of TLC?

The Trichotillomania Learning Center is by far the biggest and best (the only?) resource for anyone with a body focused repetitive behavior like trich or skin picking. Upon becoming a member, TLC will send you a nice fat booklet of information, referrals, articles, etc.   You also receive information about trainings, conferences, the retreat, etc.

Right now they have a great refer-a-friend deal and I want in on it! They are offering a free DVD to both the new-member and the person who provided the referral (that’d be me).  Is there anyone out there who has been thinking of getting a membership  and just needs an extra little boost? I’d love it if you’d give them my name when you pay your dues (email me if you don’t know what it is).  I’ve been wanting both of these DVDs but talked myself out of them since I just bought “Bad Hair Life.”

For more info on this promotion see:
http://yhst-96492593834123.stores.yahoo.net/membership.html

Challenge Day 22

Wow, this thing is nearly half over already. Just today I feel like my head is finally clear enough to really start focusing again. One of my homeopath connections said that a cloudy head & mind seems to really be a symptom going around with the current cold or flu bug everyone in our area seems to have. No kidding, it’s been almost two weeks!

So, I”m going to try and refocus my energy and get back on track. Hopefully the second half of this will be illness free and more smooth.

Challenge catch up

I don’t feel like I’m doing very well with this challenge.  The past couple of days have been pretty bad.  I was sick & up all night coughing, then my husband got it worse than I had it.  We still have a whole chunk of wall missing and I haven’t even touched it for clean up because the dust would set me coughing again.  Now my car is in for $500 worth of repairs to fuel leaks (seems important to fix).  It isn’t dire, but I just feel overwhelmed and I can’t focus on anything.  So I’ve been pulling sometimes realizing it and mostly not.  I haven’t done well with getting tools to use since I’ve been so busy grabbing kleenex & heating water for tea.

I just received my copy of the documentary “Bad Hair Life” by the now executive director of Trichotillomania Learning Center Jennifer Raikes.  I wanted to preview it for inclusion into my BFRB presentation in November.  It was quite good but I found that the power of suggestion was pretty strong.  I should’ve had a hat on, fidget toys around, and taped my hands behind my back.    I should not have put it in at 11pm (my normal bedtime)  while my defenses were even lower than normal.

See…not focusing or using my tools or making great choices.  But I’m hoping this weekend with some good live music back in my home town will help clear my head and get me back on track.

The trailer for A Bad Hair Life:

Challenge Day 10-14

Wow, tomorrow this challenge will be 25% finished! Crazy.

This weekend was my birthday so I took some time away from the computer to do fun adventures with my husband.  He made up clues and took me out for lots of surprises both Friday and Saturday.

I also have a cold, which means I’ve been drinking lots of tea & water and sitting on the couch trying to get better so I don’t have to miss any work.  Resisting urges hasn’t been foremost on my mind but I do find myself more aware of what is going on.  That is progress.  I’m trying to wear my hats & scarves if nothing else, although tonight they don’t seem to be helping much.

That said, I need to get myself away from the computer before I do any further damage.

Any skin pickers out there?

If any of your have dermotillomania or chronic skin picking, there’s a new research survey that TLC would like you to fill out.

Please go to:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=CblKVYb7p76d7EGI5Pw2BQ_3d_3d%22%3EClick%20Here%20to%20take%20survey

This looks to be a pretty long survey, but is one of the first comprehensive research surveys for skin pickers and should provide valuable insight for people who are trying to get a handle on BFRBs and how to treat them.

Challenge Days 8 & 9

Can we just pretend the last two days didn’t happen? Last night we ripped out most of a wall to fix the leak in the shower and treated a bunch of mildew too. My dad really did most of the work, but it is disheartening to see a hole rather than a wall when I walk down the hallway.

I have done a fair job of fighting urges and using tools the past couple of days. This evening is another story. I’m out of control. Sitting & working at the computer is a horrible trigger for me, and it is what I need to be doing right now. That and reading. Time to go find a good hat and try to get my brain to switch into a different mode. I’m realizing that I most need fidget toys at the computer although using them while typing could be tricky. Not that I’m getting much typing done if my hand is in my hair anyway.

I promise I will keep trying and hopefully tomorrow will be better. Two months of this challenge is feeling really long right about now.

Challenge Days 4-7

We spent the weekend kayaking, visiting family friends, walking in the woods, and playing a few card games.  For the most part it was a relaxing long weekend.  Today we came home and I noticed that the area at the base of my shower looked damp (hadn’t taken a shower in there since at least Friday).  Then I noticed that more than damp, it actually looked moldy.  I’m allergic to both mold & mildew so this is definitely NOT good news.  On a trip through the kitchen to the access panel for that shower, I noticed the underside of the kitchen cabinets had the same problem.  UH OH.  Something has been leaking in the wall for a while now.  Enough that the water has spread quite a bit and now so has mold.

So I totally freaked and stressed.  I’d planned on reading this afternoon and relaxing.  Instead I got to don my nasty respirator mask and battle the mold.  Now we have fans on everywhere and the house airing out.

Why do I tell you this?  Because I totally lost my composure and pulled quite a bit.  Pulling isn’t stress driven for everyone, but it is for many.  It definitely is for me.  All my anti-pulling tools went out the window along with the mildewy pieces of decorative trim from my shower.

So after a few days of doing pretty well, I had a “relapse.”  But I was aware of it and consciously allowed myself to keep pulling because my brain was in freak out mode.  It wasn’t the best choice, but I was able to stop myself after a bit.   After cleaning for a while, I’m now calming down, hopefully finding something to eat and will do a little of that reading.

With some sort of hat on.

Challenge Day 3

I have 7 minutes to go and day 3 will be complete. Since I’ll be away for the weekend and around other people, I suspect the next few days should be much easier. Today was a struggle because I washed my favorite hat! I didn’t think about it and then didn’t have it to put on my head. But I made it through. I only pulled a couple of times and I caught myself more. That’s progress compared to even last week. Resisting is still hard but was better today than yesterday for the most part. Here’s hoping for a calmer weekend full of sunshine and things to keep my mind & hands busy. Kayaking for a few hours Saturday should definitely help.

I received a couple more donations today too.  Thanks!  That is great motivation!!

TrichWorld

For those of you pullers out there that don’t have a support group nearby and would like an online community to check in with, go check out:

http://trichworld.ning.com/

This site was created by Cheryn Salazar who is a warrior in the trich world. She sells cosmetic products to help people with trich feel more comfortable in their skin, but has also written books, presented at conferences & retreats, and provides cosmetic counseling too.

I’ve even created a Michigander group on the site, so sign up & come find me!