From Washington Post / Health & Science
Pulling your hair or picking at skin can be signs of serious disorders
Lucy Harper, 17, a high school junior who lives in College Station, Tex., has been picking at her skin for as long as she can remember. When she was in seventh grade, she also started pulling out her hair.“For a while my skin picking was under the radar, but it was because I was pulling my hair,” she says. “If I wanted my skin to clear up, I’d stop picking and start pulling. If I wanted my hair to grow back, I’d stop pulling and start picking.”She lost so much hair that her middle school classmates asked whether she was going bald. “I tried everything to stop picking and pulling,” she says. “I bought tons of fidget toys. I tried constraining my arm with a wrist brace. I got permission to wear gloves and a hat to school, and I even once went to piano lessons with Band-Aids on every one of my fingertips.” Continue reading “Recently published article in The Washington Post”