The TM Central Home Page Trichotillomania was a term first coined by the French dermatologist Hallopeau in 1889 to describe a patient of his who had a tendency to compulsively pull out great tufts of his own hair. Trichotillomania is now thought to encompass a wide, hetereogeneous mix of people who compulsively pull their hair.
Hair can come from the scalp, the eyebrow, eyelashes, pubic region - anywhere there is hair.
Many people do not pull from all places on their body - some pull just from the scalp or just from the eyebrows or eyelashes. Trichotillomania was previously thought to be an exceedingly rare. What is important to realize is that you are not alone. Most people with trichotillomania think that they are crazy. They never speak about it, and often don't realize that there is anyone else like them until they are in adulthood, if even then.