Hair Pulling Disorder (2015 Rerun)
Psychology In Seattle Podcast
Kirk Honda
4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 20 January 2026
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/KIRK to get 10% off your first month.
00:00 Intro
01:45 Trichotillomania & BFRB
16:08 What causes BFRB
18:01 Forms of treatment
21:18 Medications & side effects
23:53 Taking in those we love
26:01 CBT in a nutshell
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So, Paulette, you have anxiety. |
| 0:01.9 | Yeah, I do. And do you ever pull your hair as a way of coping with your anxiety? You bite your nails. I bite my nails. I shake my leg. I bite my own tongue, like chew my tongue. It's so gross and weird. I don't know why. Isn't that gross? You're blushing as you say that. I know, because it's weird to talk about how weird you are and tell people. You're not telling anyone, you're just telling me. |
| 0:24.5 | Okay. Why? Isn't that gross? You're blushing as you say that. I know, because it's weird to talk about how weird you are and tell people. You're not telling anyone, you're just telling me. |
| 0:24.5 | Okay. You and... |
| 0:26.6 | 40,000 people. 40,000 people. Can you imagine pulling your hair in a similar way of biting your nails? |
| 0:32.8 | Yeah. Well, I wanted to talk about that today because a patron actually wrote in and asked us to talk about it. It's interesting that you think about like anxiety and all the way that it manifests itself. Like, and people, my friends and my sister now is moving here and she was just here and she's like, ew, stop biting your nails gross. And I was like, oh God, this is going to be. But I can't stop. But it's so weird. Like, why do I put my nail in my mouth and peel it off? Why do I, why is that, that's not any less weird. It's like destroying a part of your body, pulling a part of your body off itself. Right. Well, let's get into that. Let's talk about it. And I want to explore possible reasons why you and other people might do that. |
| 1:12.2 | This is the Psychology in Seattle podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Kirkonda. I'm chair of the couple and family |
| 1:17.8 | therapy program at Antioch University Seattle. And I'm also a licensed therapist. I'm Dr. Paulette |
| 1:24.8 | Perhatch. Just kidding. I do want to get my doctor in creative writing so I can make |
| 1:30.2 | you call me doctor and you'll get mad. No, I won't get mad. A doctor of writing, which is the thing. |
| 1:37.4 | No, I am just a writer. I'm not just a writer. I'm a writer. I am writer and nail biter, |
| 1:41.7 | Paulette Perhatch. Writer and nail biter. Writer, comment, nail biter. |
| 1:45.3 | So a patron wrote in, but wants to remain anonymous. |
| 1:48.8 | So she writes, first, I absolutely love the podcast. |
| 1:52.8 | Your psychology of TV and films are definitely my favorite. |
| 1:56.1 | I was wondering if you could spend an episode talking about trichotillomitillomania. That's a... Trichotillomania. Trichotillomania. And other BFRBs. Do you know what BFRBs are? Body. Yes. Functional? No. Body. Focused. Focused. What is it, BF? BFRBs. RB. There've got nothing. Repetitive. Repetitive, yes. Behaviors. |
| 2:20.8 | Yay. Yay. It's a term for impulse control behaviors involving compulsively damaging one's physical |
| 2:28.1 | appearance or causing physical injury. So nail biting, could be considered that. I've suffered from |
| 2:33.6 | trick or trickotillomania for |
| 2:36.2 | almost four years now and it's a very difficult and frustrating disorder. Over the years, I have realized |
| 2:41.6 | that a large portion of the population actually suffers from this disorder, but it is very unknown |
| 2:48.5 | in the public eye and research on Trick and BFRBs is very slim. |
... |
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