Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder [HPD]) is a common disorder affecting mostly women that is often underreported and underrecognized. This condition involves repetitive hair pulling resulting in hair loss with repeated unsuccessful attempts to control or stop the pulling behavior. Individuals usually attempt to conceal or camouflage the hair loss. Clinical phenomenology, neurobiology, and genetic underpinning suggest associations between obsessive-compulsive disorder and HPD. This review contains 1 table, and 19 references. Key words: hair loss, hair pulling, obsessive-compulsive and related disorder, trichotillomania