In this episode, we are going to take a closer look at the correlation between trichotillomania and lifestyle. But before we start, I wanted to share a little update with you. The course will be live any day now, or might even be live when you are listening to this podcast. Make sure to check out my website if you are interested in a battleplan that will work for you.

Ok, so let’s get started by a general look at our society. Our perceived stress and anxiety has never been higher than in our time. It’s interesting because the level of welfare is also higher than ever before. The average person now has more access to exotic foods and entertainment than John D. Rockefeller (the richest American ever) had. Our specie has thrived on the advancement of technology. Yet, depression rates are sky high and so are the overall perceived stress and anxiety. Is it surprising then that we trichotillomania is also on a rise? Because even though trichotillomania isn’t a mental disorder, it does require excessive emotion to trigger the disorder in addition to biological vulnerability. 

Modern society feeds trichotillomania

My humble opinion is that a part of the reason is that we can’t deal with this much welfare. The smartphone for instance is not truly a phone, is it? You can use it as diary, agenda, fitness tracker, banking device, and much more. Or what about all the options of entertainment? There are streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus, and HBO Select. And let’s not forget meal delivery and top-notch restaurants. We have instant access to everything. Don’t get me wrong, I am in favor of advancement, but I think we are forgetting one crucial bit: to upgrade our mindset. 

Because a large part of our brain is still the same as it was for our ancestors. It’s focused on survival and the opportunity to eat or relax will be pushed hard by this part of our brain because it was a rare occasion back in the day. Our days would be focused on gathering food and not being eaten by predators. When we could eat and recover, our brain would push this urge because it’s a priority in staying alive. Unfortunately, our brain didn’t get the memo that those times are mostly over and that we have excessive food and relaxation. It will still try to tell us to consume and relax as much as possible. Excessive foods and especially processed foods boost our stress producing hormones. And our brain doesn’t understand the difference between reality and imagination. So, going through all the emotions of your favorite tv show is actually a burden for your body. It again, produces more stress producing hormones. And yes, social media is also adding to our stress production because we feel envy for the Instagram perfect lives, which are 99% fake btw,  that we see on the gram. 

So, as you can see our stress hormones are being boosted quite significantly by our advancements. This leads to more anxiety and other excessive emotions that promote trichotillomania. Now, this isn’t going to be a doomsday episode. Quite on the contrary. Because if we know what causes our stress hormones to rise, then we can also reverse engineer these factors to our benefit in battling trichotillomania. By creating a lifestyle that reduces the stress producing hormones, we can actively reduce our urges to pull hair. Now what is a good place to start? There are actually 3 ingredients that will massively reduce the production of stress hormones: sleep, water, and food. Of course, you could also add exercise, but that benefit will be less impactful before the other 3 are fixed.

Not enough sleep? Thank you says trichotillomania

Sleep is the most crucial part. Weirdly enough there is a kind of stigma around sleeping. Oh, are you going to bed already grandma? People see it as boring and even though sleeping feels nice, you can always catch up with it later, right? WRONG. Did you know that you can’t catch up on sleep? If you have missed hours of crucial sleep, which is 8 btw, then you can’t catch up by sleeping the next day for a few hours longer. 

Sleep is one of the few processes that hasn’t evolved since we were hunting mammoths. The reason is quite simple: it’s just that important. Sleep is the only process that can store memories permanently in your brains, sleep is the only process that can remove certain toxins from your brains, and sleep is by far the most important factor of balancing your hormones including stress producing hormones like cortisol. Everything else, exercise, breathing, eating healthy, journaling is subordinate to sleep. 

I hope I did a good job to make clear how important this really is. A lack of sleep hygiene is fueling your trichotillomania like nothing else can. Additionally, it is making your body sick with even mortal consequences. 

Multiple ways to weaken trichotillomania by creating the right lifestyle

Ok, time to lighten the mood a bit. There is plenty you can do to have a good sleep hygiene and strongly reduce your stress hormones and thus reduce your urge to pull. The basis of a good sleep hygiene is as follows: you need a regular sleep schedule. Set it in stone and don’t change it. Not even in the weekend. And yes, that means no sleeping in. Your room should ideally be dark and cold. It reminds the brain of our time in the caves, and it helps you to sleep faster and better. You shouldn’t use stimulants like caffeine or alcohol in the late afternoon or evening. And at least 1 hour before bed time, it’s recommended to avoid blue light, for instance your phone, TV, or computer. 

Water is the second factor, I’ve already dived into this one quite a bit on a earlier episode called The Importance Of Water And Trichotillomania. We are mostly fluid beings and water connects our body to vital nutrients and it’s crucial for your nervous system and brains. Try to drink 2-3 liters of water per day and divide it over the day. If you are feeling thirst, then you are already late and should have drank water hours ago. Our body is a master survivalist and it will continue to ‘function’ on less water. However, that doesn’t mean it’s healthy. You body will shut down parts of your organs and transport that water to the brains to keep it functioning. Drinking not enough water is a hugeeee mood factor. Feeling anxious or depressed? First drink 2 glasses of water. It might just be that your brain is in stress because it’s lacking its fuel: water. 

Food is the last factor and quite easy to fix. Just try to eliminate or reduce processed foods as much as possible. These promote your stress producing hormones. Whole greens and fruits are the best. Also nuts are a great source of vital minerals that will help you battle feelings of anxiety, depression, or stress. 

Conclusion on lifestyle & trichotillomania

As you can see, there are so many factors that can help you to reduce your urges and really starve trichotillomania. Trich feeds on stress and anxiety, so our primary goal should be to reduce those as much as possible. Often we go look at things like fun activities or medicine to help us with this task. However, those factors are minuscule compared to the 3 lifestyle choices: sleep, water, and food. I hope I did a good job of transmitting the power and importance of your lifestyle. It is a major factor in the life of anyone, but especially if you suffer from trichotillomania. 

I would even go a step further and say that it becomes very difficult to manage trichotillomania if you don’t create the right lifestyle. I know people won’t like it that I am saying this because they like their irregular bed times and processed foods. I am also not condemning anyone or have anything against people that do these things. My task is simply to inform you with research-based knowledge to help you in your fight against trichotillomania. In the end, it’s your responsibility.

Thank you for listening! And if you want to hear more strategies to battle trich, then please follow this podcast and take a look at my program.