Is touching your hair anxiety?
What is Compulsive Hair Touching? Compulsive touching is one of the lesser-known groups of symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Compulsive hair touching may be a ritual to help reduce stress or anxiety usually brought about by obsessive thoughts.
Symptom of anxiety
Your hair twirling might have started in childhood or adolescence and developed into something you do when you're anxious. If you twirl your hair when you feel nervous or when you're coping with intrusive, anxious thoughts, that habit might be a symptom of an anxiety disorder.
"We often play with our hair unconsciously. It can be when we are bored, deep in thought, nervous or stressed — hence the term 'tearing out your hair,'" says trichologist Anabel Kingsley of Philip Kingsley. “Hair pulling may be used as a coping mechanism, and as a way to initially alleviate feelings of anxiety.”
use a fidget toy. wear a bandana or a tight fitting hat, such as a beanie. come up with a saying that you repeat out loud until the urge to pull passes. take a soothing bath to ease any stress or anxiety.
Excessive hair touching is a repetitive and addictive habit that can be extremely hard to stop and can lead to Trichotillomania - a hair pulling disorder. Many women who's hands are always buried in their hair, typically suffer from very dry ends, oily roots, hair loss and poor overall hair condition.
Trichotillomania can be related to emotions: Negative emotions. For many people with trichotillomania, hair pulling is a way of dealing with negative or uncomfortable feelings, such as stress, anxiety, tension, boredom, loneliness, fatigue or frustration.
Most people do this from time to time, usually without even thinking about it. But for some people, scalp picking may be a symptom of dermatillomania. This is a condition that's similar to obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Touching the hair can be a subconscious way to feel more in control. Someone may touch their hair when they are feeling insecure, or if they are feeling nervous about something. We often see girls or women touching their hair when they are attracted to someone, which is a self-grooming gesture.
According to the experts, playing with your hair is usually just a nervous tic, self-soothing tactic, or a mindless habit. That said, sometimes this nervous tic might verge on a larger issue, depending on the extent to which you do it.
Phobias are extreme fears of certain objects or situations. The term trichophobia comes from the Greek words that mean “hair” (trichos) and “fear” (phobia). A person who has trichophobia has a persistent fear of hair, particularly seeing or touching loose hairs on the body, clothing, or elsewhere.