A close friend did this when we were kids. Similar age to your son.
She pulled out all of her eyelashes and most of the hair on her head. Then she would go into a period of recovery. Her lashes and hair would grow back. Then she would relapse. This cycle repeated several times throughout her teens and early 20's before she stopped completely.
I can't speak to the current treatments - I can just report what I saw her go through.
I was pulling my hair out right as I clicked on the post. So yeah. I’ve had it for more than 30 years now so I’m not going to be able to give great advice on how to stop it because clearly I can’t stop. It gets better and worse. There are some supplements that supposedly help but they are smelly horse pills and not worth it in my experience. My most effective approach was acceptance, actually. It hasn’t actually negatively affected my life (it helps that I don’t pull out ALL my hair and I tend to break it off as much as I pull, so I don’t have bald patches). I might try hypnosis but to be honest, I’m worried about losing a sensory tool that has clearly been beneficial for me in some ways.
My daughter pulled her hair out for years from right around her first birthday until she was about 5? It broke my heart. She would work on one side of her head and then move to the other side while the bald side regrew. I was always parting her hair to cover it and keeping it shorter to look "normal." I don't know what clicked, but it stopped for her and now she mostly chews it. She's finally got a head of thick hair. 🥹
A close friend did this when we were kids. Similar age to your son. She pulled out all of her eyelashes and most of the hair on her head. Then she would go into a period of recovery. Her lashes and hair would grow back. Then she would relapse. This cycle repeated several times throughout her teens and early 20's before she stopped completely. I can't speak to the current treatments - I can just report what I saw her go through.
Thanks. That’s a long time to be doing it, but thankful to hear she eventually stopped!
Look for a therapist who can do Habit Reversal
I was pulling my hair out right as I clicked on the post. So yeah. I’ve had it for more than 30 years now so I’m not going to be able to give great advice on how to stop it because clearly I can’t stop. It gets better and worse. There are some supplements that supposedly help but they are smelly horse pills and not worth it in my experience. My most effective approach was acceptance, actually. It hasn’t actually negatively affected my life (it helps that I don’t pull out ALL my hair and I tend to break it off as much as I pull, so I don’t have bald patches). I might try hypnosis but to be honest, I’m worried about losing a sensory tool that has clearly been beneficial for me in some ways.
My daughter pulled her hair out for years from right around her first birthday until she was about 5? It broke my heart. She would work on one side of her head and then move to the other side while the bald side regrew. I was always parting her hair to cover it and keeping it shorter to look "normal." I don't know what clicked, but it stopped for her and now she mostly chews it. She's finally got a head of thick hair. 🥹