Trichophagia or Rapunzel syndrome is a strange, unique and very rare disorder. People who suffer from this disorder have a serious urge to eat hair non-stop. This disorder can lead to serious health problems due to the hairballs that accumulate inside the stomach. What causes a person to end up swallowing their own hair? For what is this? Does trichophagia have a solution? These questions will be answered in the Psychology-Online article: Trichophagia: what it is, causes and treatment.
Trichophagia, also known as Rapunzel syndrome, is a psychological disorder that is defined by the act of compulsively eating your own or other people’s hair and uncontrolled, becoming very serious because it causes intestinal obstructions.
It is a fairly rare disorder that mainly affects women under 30 years of age, with a ratio of 4 to 1 compared to men. It is estimated worldwide that trichophagia affects a very small percentage of the population. The prevalence of trichophagia is between 0.6% and 1.6% of the total population, making this disorder very rare. Trichophagia can also occur in babies.
People who suffer from trichophagia or Rapunzel syndrome They usually develop a ritual when ingesting hair that is difficult to control: they play with their hair, if the hair is long they put it in their mouth to taste it and then tear it out so they can chew it until they swallow it. The hair they use is usually that of the scalp, but on various occasions it can be from other parts of the body, such as the eyebrows, eyelashes or other areas. There are cases in which they are not only limited to their own hair, but will also pull hair from people around them.
This behavior can occur at any time, but it is usually more severe when the person suffering from it is facing stressful situations.
Consequences of trichophagia
Trichophagy, that is, eating hair, has consequences. In fact, it is a disorder that can have serious medical consequences if not intervened. Hair cannot be digested by the human gastrointestinal tract, which causes hair balls to begin to accumulate in the intestine, called trichobezoar. When these hairballs are large enough to begin to clog the intestinal walls, the following symptoms arise:
- Stomachache.
- Vomiting.
- Loss of weight and appetite.
- Diarrhea.
- Constipation.
- Abdominal tension.
- Intestinal bleeding or perforation.
Hairballs are a health risk and the only way to eliminate them is through surgical interventions.
In the long run, people with trichophagia will suffer hair thinning by the constant tearing as hairless patches and irritations on your scalp, which in turn will generate more anxiety and your behavior will increase.
The clear cause of trichophagia is unknown, but patients suffering from trichophagia have been linked to sleep disorders. anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. Trichophagia usually appears more frequently in cases where the patient also has trichotillomania.
Trichophagia and trichotillomania
Trichophagia disorder is highly associated with , a disorder that belongs to those included in the DSM-5 that is characterized by compulsive hair pulling behavior. Studies on trichotolomania indicate that trichophagia ends up developing in 30% of cases.
Usually, the obsession of trichotillomania is accompanied by some psychiatric disorder such as . Although on the other hand, studies associate trichotillomania and trichophagia in cases of sexual abuse in children, psychological abuse or intellectual disability.
Is there a cure for Rapunzel syndrome? Can trichophagia be treated? Yes. The key to treating a person with trichophagia is to eliminate compulsive hair-eating behaviors and reduce the causes that cause it. It is essential for this that the person with trichophagia participates in psychotherapeutic treatments. The most used treatments to treat trichophagia or Rapunzel syndrome are the following:
- Response deprivation behavior therapy. To learn to avoid the behavior of hair eating when exposed to situations that provoke it.
- Habit reversal therapy. It consists of providing more functional and healthy alternatives as a response to anxiety instead of hair ingestion. For example, whenever the urge to eat hair appears, go for a quick walk or apply deep breathing techniques.
- . It would be used to treat psychological disorders that could accompany and aggravate trichophagia, such as anxiety disorders.
How to stop pulling out your hair?
In cases where trichophagia occurs together with trichotillomania, the therapies are very similar to those mentioned above. Special emphasis would be placed on the behavioral therapies to eliminate hair pulling behavior. All therapies focused on alleviating anxiety symptoms would also be included, which is the main precipitant of compulsive behaviors. In the following article you will find.