Trichotillomania: a perspective synthesised from neuroscience and lived experience

Journal article

The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of group Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in the treatment of ambiguity tolerance, childhood trauma, and external humiliation in women with trichotillomania. The research method was conducted using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design, which included a control group. Women diagnosed with trichotillomania in Tehran in 2024 comprised the research population. Based on inclusion criteria, 34 women were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The Massachusetts General Hospital Hair Pulling Scale (MGH), the Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale (MSTAT-I), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and the External Shame Scale (ESS) were employed to evaluate the groups. Participants completed the research questionnaires once more after eight 90-minute group DBT sessions for the experimental group. SPSS-27 was employed to conduct multivariate covariance analysis (MANCOVA) on the data. The findings suggested that DBT significantly increased ambiguity tolerance and decreased physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, sexual abuse, and external shame in women with trichotillomania (P<0.01). Dialectical Behavior Therapy facilitates the management of negative emotions via the acquisition of skills in emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and mindfulness, thereby allowing individuals to exert greater control over their actions without resorting to compulsive behaviors such as hair-pulling

Authors: Mackay, CE

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• Journal: BMJ Mental Health
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 1
• Pages: e300795-e300795
• Publication date: 2023-09-20
• Acceptance date: 2023-08-25
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjment-2023-300795
• EISSN: 2755-9734
• ISSN: 2755-9734
• Language: English
• Keywords: Communication; Clinical psychology; Psychiatry; Psychological intervention; Distress; Pathological; Impulse control disorder; Social psychology; Shame; Population; Psychology; Pathology; Medicine; Affect (linguistics); Perspective (graphical)