New-onset trichotillomania in a 50-year-old patient

Trichotillomania: Impulsive, compulsive or both?

“…Arunkumar et al (2015) present acase of trichotillomania, which is interesting for several reasons. First, the onset of the condition was atypically late, at the age of 50 years.…”

“…This has practical consequences in that some individuals may not meet the DSM-5 criteria for trichotillomania only because they do not seem to resist hair pulling. Indeed, this might have been the case with the patient described by Arunkumar et al (2015) who had an ‘ irresistible urge to pull her hair and a sense of intense, albeit short-lasting relief upon doing so ’, which may imply that she made little or no effort to stop hair pulling.…”