Trichotillomania

http://www.trich.org/treatment/article-toddler-golomb.html

Caroline has trichotillomania, which is the chronic pulling out of one's hair. We have been to the pediatrician, run blood tests and the good news is, she is very healthy. She does, however, soothe herself by pulling clumps of hair out of her head, which is upsetting to us all. She has always had this habit, when she was very young (under a year) she did pull her hair out, by pulling out her bows. We stopped with the bows, she stopped pulling for awhile. Then I went back to work and it started out in earnest. It is the worst it has looked right now, but I have cut a lot of the strands off so that it looks more even. It has, in very recent times, begun coming back in, so there's hope here, and it may have helped to cut her hair very short because she does not have much to twirl and pull out at this point.

It is not the vanity that drives this upset, rather that she is exhibiting signs of anxiety, which is a longtime Keener problem. My mother manifests a significant problem with anxiety, though she has always called it being "nervous," and I have been through 10 years of cognitive behavior therapy to be able to manage mine. While it is great to see some traits of mine in my children, I really am disappointed that Caroline has so obviously inherited my anxiety issues. The upside is that I can help her manage them, something that my mother never tried to do, other than to suggest that I was just "too sensitive," but it's such an irritating burden. And while anxiety prone people can be very high achievers, I just hope that I can help her manage this a bit better.

So, today I am going to get a treat bag and work on an incentive plan for her, as suggested by the Trichotillomania Association, as recommended by their website. I am also going to seek out some baby gloves. Where would one find those this time of year? I'll see what we can come up with.....