Yesterday I received a call from a friend of mine in DC who is going through a very tough time. Circumstances led me to track down my old pscyhologist, John Chamberlain, who I had started seeing in 2002 when I lived in the area. I had seen him primarily due to issues following what I saw in the hospital on 9/11, and a few other things and over the years I had forgotten that he also happened to specialize in trichtillomania. Anyway, I located him online and saw trich listed under areas he specialized in (at the time he was a doctor at my law schools clinic and by the time we got through my other issues I had pretty much used up all the counseling services I was allowed and then some, and barely got to address trich).
It was really nice catching up with him and we talked briefly about trich. I told him where I was with my fight to beat this, having finally opened up to friends and family this year, starting this blog, etc. I mentioned that I was happy that my desire to pull my eyelashes has really subsided and that its been much, much easier to control my urges to pull my eyebrows. He told me that often age and hormones can have a big effect on trich although there arent really specific markers for when these changes in urges occur. He went on to state that it would be very uncommon to have the urges suddenly stop, that it is common for it to be reduced over a few months and then possibly stop altogether. Again, I stress possibly.
He warned me that the next two years will be the real test- that most people relapse with trich and you cant consider yourself a success story (contrary to the success stories posted on TLC's website which mostly deal with people that are 6 months pull-free) until you have gone 2 years. Apparently after the 2 year mark the risk of relapse is drastically reduced. He urged me to continue to stay on guard for the next two years and to continually think about it and come up with strategies and habits to help prevent myself from pulling, even if right now I dont feel as much of an urge to pull.
I never expected this to be easy and while I may have hoped that this was a clear indication of future trich-free-ness, I realistically new I was still going to have to be on guard for a while. I just never expected to hear 2 years, i thought maybe 6 months. Maybe a year. But if that's what it takes, that's where I hope to some day (in 1 year and 10 months) arrive. Until then I'll just keep fighting it.
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I guess I'm going to do a personal plug here but if anyone reading this is in the DC area I really recommend contacting Dr. Chamberlain- his practice is now based in Silver Spring and I'd be confident that if anyone could help, he could (again, just my personal opinion but I cant say enough how much he helped me through some very tough times).
http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/name/John_Chamberlain_PhD_Silver+Spring_Maryland_53963
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