It's been about nine years since my now 22-year-old daughter stopped pulling out her eyelashes. She began pulling at around age 9 when one of the neighborhood kids started a game of pulling out eyelashes, making a wish and blowing them away. A habit was formed and for almost five years she was unable to stop pulling. We tried everything.....therapists - behavior modification, Doctors - medical & naturopaths, hypnotists, seminars, retreats, diets, vitamins, hot peppers on thumbs (which by the way, was an excellent barrier), long fake fingernails, etc. During that time, she learned how to use eye makeup, which helped hide her lack of lashes. My husband and I even took her to Yale where we took part in an extensive study. We also reached out to the only organization that I could find at the time - TLC. I prayed every day for God to give us strength and to help my daughter.

When all else had failed, and we were on the brink of trying meds, (we had resisted because we feared what long term results might be), something happened. Two incidents seemed to play a part in her stopping, along with the behavior modification and barriers we had learned to use. A boy on her school bus ridiculed her and my shy daughter proceeded to punch him in the face after she was totally humiliated! Soon after, school was out for the summer and she went to Camp (where she was busy from morning until night and away from her normal routine). When we picked her up after two weeks, she had a few lashes that were quite long. We praised her for her accomplishment and how wonderful she looked. By this time we had been down this road many times and after a couple of weeks she would usually start again. We always remembered, however, that the Psychologists said she had about a 50/50 chance of recovery. Sure enough, this time she stopped for good!! She got through the next few weeks and broke that habit! We continue to be thankful. She is a very normal and beautiful young woman who is now about to be a Nurse! Her eyelashes soon grew back and are full today!

Thank you TLC for your support. Your newsletters always gave me hope and there was comfort that we weren't the only people in the world going through this. There are millions of people with this disorder! Since then, I have talked to and emailed hundreds of parents and children who are desperate. I know how this feels...I was exhausted, distraught, confused, guilty, angry, sad, hurt, helpless, etc. After all how could this feel good? Why couldn't she just stop? Couldn't she see how she looked in the mirror? I urge each of you to reach out for help. Find a Psychologist that has had success with Trich. Buy books on how to break a habit. Get involved with TLC. Love yourself and your child. Your child will never forget how you helped them. Please believe that there is hope...you/your child can overcome this.

Pam