myeverything04
New Member
It has been a long time (over a year ago) that I posted and I am thankful for that as my daughter's ADHD seemed to calm down, until she began 4th grade this year. She is having trouble again focusing but I am posting today for help with Trichotillomania - she is pulling her eyelashes out.
This behavior started about 2 months ago but wasn't severe enough for me to really 'notice' unless I saw her doing it. I didn't think much of it as she has always had very long eyelashes and said one was poking her in the eye. Recently though, about 3-4 days ago, I noticed half of her eyelashes on her right eye are gone and the other half are only partially there. I have been doing some research online and found that this can be caused by a number of things but one thing has stuck out to me: it can be caused by bordom with children who have a high level of intellegence. When she was tested for ADHD the doctor also tested her intellegence and it came back in the top 10%. While this is exciting, it has also become difficult to deal with as she has 'done' almost everything I can find to keep her busy (sorting and organizing when she was younger to crafting anything imaginable as a pre-teen) and I have no clue what do now!
She began seeing a councelor last week (goes back this Thursday) as she has been experiencing high episodes of depression. Not sure if this is caused by hormones as she is at 'that age' (hasn't started menstrating yet, TG!) but I needed the help of an expert. So far she is happy to go. Let's hope that continues.
So, if anyone out there has any suggestions on how to handle the eyelash pulling, please reply! I have tried to discourage it and we have talked about it together but she gets upset now when I catch her doing it and breaks down crying. She doesn't want to do it but does it without even noticing. Thank you all in advance!
This behavior started about 2 months ago but wasn't severe enough for me to really 'notice' unless I saw her doing it. I didn't think much of it as she has always had very long eyelashes and said one was poking her in the eye. Recently though, about 3-4 days ago, I noticed half of her eyelashes on her right eye are gone and the other half are only partially there. I have been doing some research online and found that this can be caused by a number of things but one thing has stuck out to me: it can be caused by bordom with children who have a high level of intellegence. When she was tested for ADHD the doctor also tested her intellegence and it came back in the top 10%. While this is exciting, it has also become difficult to deal with as she has 'done' almost everything I can find to keep her busy (sorting and organizing when she was younger to crafting anything imaginable as a pre-teen) and I have no clue what do now!
She began seeing a councelor last week (goes back this Thursday) as she has been experiencing high episodes of depression. Not sure if this is caused by hormones as she is at 'that age' (hasn't started menstrating yet, TG!) but I needed the help of an expert. So far she is happy to go. Let's hope that continues.
So, if anyone out there has any suggestions on how to handle the eyelash pulling, please reply! I have tried to discourage it and we have talked about it together but she gets upset now when I catch her doing it and breaks down crying. She doesn't want to do it but does it without even noticing. Thank you all in advance!