My compulsive behavior

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Ignoramus29346 - 22 May 2004 04:58 GMT

I have to admit that I have a compulsive behavior. It is pulling on
hair, not pulling them out but kind of compulsive grooming of hair.

The remedy that works for me 100% is making sure that I have a short
haircut. If I have a short haircut, I have no compulsion. If my hair
grows long, I start hair pulling/grooming. Unlike other hair pullers,
I do not pull my hair out.

I have not been able to stop it other than by having a short haircut.

Because there is a simple remedy, I am sort of not bothered by this,
however, I am noticing that my 3yo son sometimes pulls on his hair
too. Don't know what to do about him, if anything, although keeping
his hair short seems harmless enough.

i

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Dewolla Stepon - 22 May 2004 14:07 GMT

My compulsive behavior was nail biting. I'd been doing it as long as I can
remember and it was terrible. After nearly forty years of it I finally
thought about it enough to figure out what it was all about: I had been
trying to keep my nails from feeling ragged and snagging on things.
Bothered the heck out of me, and I was using the only tool I had with me, my
teeth! I started carrying a nailclipper with me ever since, and whenever I
feel a rough place on my nail I clip it or file it smooth. Started doing
that more than fifteen years ago and my nails have been very nice since. I
still have to think about it every time I feel roughness on my nails or when
I break a nail; I still have the compulsion to make it smooth again
immediately and have to make sure I get to a pair of nailclippers fast!

I think your son is probably imitating you, and it could develop into his
own compulsion. Its harmless enough, as you say, to both keep your hair
short, and the change may permanently break the cycle with your son. My
daughter, at age three, was starting to imitate the stuttering of her
grandfather (not my father) for no apparent reason other than her grandpa
stuttered. It came on suddenly, and we would stop her when she stuttered
and tell her "just say it." That worked, after a couple of weeks she
stopped stuttering.

Hope this helps.

- Dewolla

> I have to admit that I have a compulsive behavior. It is pulling on
> hair, not pulling them out but kind of compulsive grooming of hair.
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> i

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Ignoramus16760 - 22 May 2004 14:13 GMT

> My compulsive behavior was nail biting. I'd been doing it as long as I can
> remember and it was terrible. After nearly forty years of it I finally
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> I break a nail; I still have the compulsion to make it smooth again
> immediately and have to make sure I get to a pair of nailclippers fast!

A great solution, painless and effective.

> I think your son is probably imitating you, and it could develop into his
> own compulsion.

What bothers me is that I do not think that he imitates me. The reason
why I think so is that I keep my hair short and do not pull on it,
like I said I only do it when my hair grows long, which I try not to
let happen.

So, he is likely doing it on his own. Now that he has a short haircut,
he is not trying to do it.

That's why I am so concerned, if it was just parroting I would not
worry as much.

> Its harmless enough, as you say, to both keep your hair
> short, and the change may permanently break the cycle with your son. My
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> and tell her "just say it." That worked, after a couple of weeks she
> stopped stuttering.

But that was not real stuttering... It was a joke on her part.

Thanks!

i

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Jeri - 22 May 2004 14:51 GMT

> I have to admit that I have a compulsive behavior. It is pulling on
> hair, not pulling them out but kind of compulsive grooming of hair.
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> too. Don't know what to do about him, if anything, although keeping
> his hair short seems harmless enough.

Have you ever considered that maybe he's just uncomfortable when his hair
gets long?

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Ignoramus16760 - 22 May 2004 15:11 GMT

>> I have to admit that I have a compulsive behavior. It is pulling on
>> hair, not pulling them out but kind of compulsive grooming of hair.
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Have you ever considered that maybe he's just uncomfortable when his hair
> gets long?

It was never very long, but surely, you can describe this in these
terms.

i

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