Obsessively pulling at my split ends.

[nervous habits]

I used to style my hair with heat, wash with sulfates and nasty things, rip it to shreds towel drying it, ALL daily.

I have since stopped using heat completely, wash with friendlier ingredients a few times a week, condition my hair daily, and take my vitamins.

One thing I cannot conquer is the fact that I constantly have split ends. To make matters worse, I am addicted to playing with them, picking at them, trying to "fix" them by pulling them until they feel "right" (spoiler: they never do).

I really want to stop this terrible habit and nurse my ends back to health. I just can't stop pulling at my ends until they feel right. It is both a conscious and unconscious habit.

 

[Bolletje]

Could you get a trim to get rid of those split ends?

 

[nervous habits]

Could you get a trim to get rid of those split ends?

Yeah, but then I just end up getting new ones because the habit continues. I really want to grow my hair out.

 

[Bolletje]

Yeah, but then I just end up getting new ones because the habit continues. I really want to grow my hair out.

Ah yes, that’s tricky. I was growing my hair out, but I had really bad split ends too, and kept pulling on them too. I didn’t like going for regular trims because I wanted it to be longer.

In the end I had very long hair, but it wasn’t healthy at all. The hairdresser told me I had to cut off at least 10 cm of hair because it was all split ends and dry, and I really needed to go for regular trims if I wanted to keep it healthy. I did that for a while, but in the end I decided that having curly hair down to my butt was way too much hassle to take care of, so I chopped it off and now I have a very healthy bouncy bob haircut.

 

[Aspychata]

Is this a stim? Do you have any other stims? Would wearing a necklace give you something to pull on?
I use to bite the inside of my mouth alot. I guess l stopped. Maybe you need to find stim toys?

 

[Au Naturel]

I wonder if it is a variation on trichotillomania? I had a friend once who plucked his eyebrows out because he kept pulling on the hair. After a few years, he just stopped doing it. I suspect underlying anxiety that resolved itself and he never connected the two.

Trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder) - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic

 

[nervous habits]

Is this a stim? Do you have any other stims? Would wearing a necklace give you something to pull on?
I use to bite the inside of my mouth alot. I guess l stopped. Maybe you need to find stim toys?

This may be a stim, yes. It's both conscious and unconscious. I don't have too many stims. I fiddle with things, shake my leg, and sometimes sway back and forth when I'm sitting and talking with people.

I've got some stim toys coming in the mail, and today I actually found some putty that I'm pretty enamored by.

 

[nervous habits]

I wonder if it is a variation on trichotillomania? I had a friend once who plucked his eyebrows out because he kept pulling on the hair. After a few years, he just stopped doing it. I suspect underlying anxiety that resolved itself and he never connected the two.

Trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder) - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic

I'm hesitant to identify with this disorder as I'm not extremely afflicted by it (I don't have bald spots and extreme effects from it). I do have constant anxiety, and I've got OCD.

 

[Luca]

I wanted to post in this thread because I have been sitting at my computer playing with my hair for two hours. Lol
I think it's a stim for me, but it seems to be the only one I have (that I've noticed.) I also have kind of constant anxiety.
My hair is really thick and really floofy. I've been growing it out and it only makes it more tempting to play with it.

 

[Dylan48]

Trichotillomania is hair pulling, which is a common theme. Then Skin picking is another common theme. Then there are BFRB's which means any body focused repetitive behavior. Basically anywhere else from the first 2.

 

[nervous habits]

I wanted to post in this thread because I have been sitting at my computer playing with my hair for two hours. Lol
I think it's a stim for me, but it seems to be the only one I have (that I've noticed.) I also have kind of constant anxiety.
My hair is really thick and really floofy. I've been growing it out and it only makes it more tempting to play with it.

I'm in the same boat. It is probably a stim for me, but I refuse to call it one because I seem to get off on denying my autism.

 

[nervous habits]

Trichotillomania is hair pulling, which is a common theme. Then Skin picking is another common theme. Then there are BFRB's which means any body focused repetitive behavior. Basically anywhere else from the first 2.

I wonder if I would still do this even if my ends felt "right" and not unhealthy.

 

[Dylan48]

It depends if it's causing self damage/social inappropriate. Like I got this habit of cracking my toes against the floor in a cemeterial pattern, and I know that I need to do some management because If I don't they can start to hurt.

But I know I can't get rid of it either, part of me finds it satisfying / too hardwired to not. So every now and then I put a bit of pressure on the floor and keep my feet flat for a rough minute or so, and the urges subside, of course they come back, but the management has worked.

It's about finding and replacing, coming up with your own 2nd nature to lessen your tic/stim. A stim is different from a tic. I find it tricky to be able to define what is what, but either way, if you think it's something that needs lessening, then you find and replace.

Some people I find constantly self stim, and I'm not a fan of this.