Picking eyelashes

[Stefani117]

Hey everyone.. im 18 years old and have been picking my eyelashes out for years. I've never met ANYBODY who has does this.. I feel really emberssed saying this but if somebody ANYBODY does this too please contact me.. I would like to know or learn how to stop.... I CAN"T STOP!! And it *****.. Makes me just wanna cry.. If you have any tips on how to stop please write me back

[pinklemonade]

hi stef, my names alex and i suffer from the problem, i do not have any answers myself i have keepin it hidden, by drawing on my eyebrows and wearing liquid eyeliner around my eyes. It has completely transformed my apperance for the worst, not to sound cocky but i used to be pretty but slowly turned into a 'freak'. I havent experienced suicidal thoughts or actions.. though i haave on and off depression (so i think). I just recently read up on some reasoning to these actions this year and cried for hours. I told myself this wont run my life anymore and make me any less of a person i always wanted to be, I grew back my eyebrows this September it took me three months, it was hard im sure you could understand. my eyelashes are almost back tho i have the urge now and then n havent resisted.. from those actions. It sickens me this happened and i wish there were an easier way out. it's up to you an you can do it if i can, i am not eighteen, this has happened since the age 13 (im lucky they grew back). I dropped out of highschool from sheer emberassment, and listened to what people said and considered myself ugly. I believe my trigger to this problem was school and stress of it all because i am a healthy young woman in all honesty. I hope things get better for you cause i know exactly what you are going thru and how hard it can be (L)

[pinklemonade]

and also, i was told that mine wouldnt grow back either it scared me to death, i couldnt imagine myself looking like this for my whole life you know.
and it took me three months and they came back. im not even lieing.. it is amazing.

[pinklemonade]

i made this account just to let you girls know it is possible to go back to your old self, i havent seen any counsellers or taken any depression medication (or any medication at all..to treat this) . the only ones that know is my mom and my nana, i did it all by myself and it is possible, it has to be because i would pick them out as soon as they grew back in.  see yah xoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxox

[silly_smiles]

I have been struggling with eye lash picking since I was a teenager, and I am going to be 35 this May. I know it stems from anxiety, but also from letting people take advantage of me and run all over me, and basically me just holding it in and not dealing with it. I have been in and out of counciling and not sure if it is helped. I have identified why I do what I do just don't know how to stop feeling this way. When I am upset or stressed or feel used by friends or guys I don't tell them all of what I want to say. I am tired of never getting what I want in life, and never saying what I want. So I recently made a list of qualities I am looking for in a person, maybe this will help me to weed out the people who use me and find ones that care. See I am a well established person, with a 6 yr old boy, who is my life. His father put me through hell over and over again. He cheated and I took him back twice. I still love him, but can't go through all the crap again. And it is hard to lose your best friend because they cant be faithful. Why do I always have to be the one to sacrafice. I can't do it anymore. So again I know why I pick, just what to do to stop doing it is so hard to figure out!

[mikecnly]

i have been picking my eyelashes and eyebrows for ever. i just recently saw the doctor. he said it is obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) he gave me a medication that will help with pulling my eyelashes and eyebrows. i know how you feel its embarrassing. especally when you are still in school. good luck

[Sassysue1]

Hello. Could you tell me what med they gave you?  I'm 65 and have had this problem since high school.

[Paxiled]

Seriously, you don't want a medication if your only problem is a tic.  We all have some things we do obsessively.  Unless your life is severely disrupted, truly, you don't want to get into the meds used for mental disorders.  Only when necessary.  They can be especially difficult to start when you get older, as they are when you are very young.  Now, if you truly have OCD, it won't be just one tic.  It will be a mindset where you obsess over things and if you don't do them you get an anxiety attack.  It can be paralyzing.  If you just have this one thing and it bothers you that much after all these years of living your life with it, see a therapist who does CBT and learn to stop doing it, don't drug yourself unless you really have to.  

[specialmom]

  If you are pulling eye lashes which often leads to hair pulling and for a woman, that can become debilitating, treating it sometimes with medication absolutely is necessary.  https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/trichotillomania#1  My niece suffers this and it has been very difficult. A support group helps her as well.  My son has general tics and they are worse when he is anxious.  Treating the anxiety improves the tics.  I'd do whatever you can to help you and that may include treatment with medication and therapy.  They attempt to have you learn the triggers to the hair pulling. For my niece, it never was really uncovered.  She'd do it even during the night while out of it in sleep mode.  For some, CBT therapy is enough and definitely a good place to start.  She takes an SSRI and atypical antidepressants are also used.  You've been dealing with this for a very long time.  I feel for you.

[Paxiled]

Mom, exactly, she's somehow survived all these years with this.  By the way, for you internet hounds who love to look things up, WebMd is a for-profit site that is not authoritative on anything.  If you have a problem, go see a therapist.  If it's bad, your psychologist will tell you to see a psychiatrist for medication.  Medication for neuroses is never always "necessary",though it's often the best we can do and often the only thing we can do.  Medication always comes with other problems, so like any invasive medical procedure, you do it if you need to and you don't if you don't.  I'm always wary when someone says any particular course of action on things we don't understand very well and when we will never meet the person posting first-hand is "necessary."  Time will answer that question but we can't.  Peace, all, and be careful out there.

[specialmom]

I can find the same information from Mayo and Cleveland Clinics and know the information based on my family member.  The situation of hair pulling may not be something someone has to live with and treating underlying anxiety can greatly improve it.  Treatment for said anxiety can be through CBT with medication often being instituted as well.  Just because someone has lived with it for a long time doesn't mean they should have to forever.  Of course people need to work with their doctors but should not be afraid to treat psychiatric conditions including tics or hair pulling as there is a spectrum of how badly these things interfere with someone's life.   No one is trying to answer a question for someone as to exactly what they should do but instead, giving them information to help them reach their own conclusion.  Personally, if I had a lifetime of pulling out my eye lashes, I'd look for help.  It's never too late.

[Paxiled]

I didn't question that, I only questioned the use of the word "necessary."  

[stevie_C]

I've been picking my eyelashes out since I was 15 yrs old and I am now 31. I've never been to a Dr. to be treated because I honestly thought I was the only one that did this embarrasing habit. I've never heard of anyone doing this to themselves until I just read your comment. I do it when I'm stressed out and I believe I do to keep me focused on picking rather than dealing with the main issue which happens to be life issues. The longest I've ever went without picking is 2 months. I usually pick til my eyelid bleeds then stop for a while and so on. I hide it with black liquid eyeliner and no one can tell unless there absolutely focused on my eyes or really close to me. I'm sorry I wasn't of any help but you helped me by being able to talk about it.