Hello and welcome to my blog

So, you're probably wondering, what is a "trichster" (pronounced Trickster) anyway? Well, that's where the story begins.

I am a busy single mom, who relies on the help of family with my children as I attend college full time, as well as apprentice with a midwife full time. I spend every weekend usually home with, or out and about with, my children. Sundays are usually our most fullfilling day together, we wake up early for Church, go to Church together, hang out at the after Mass social to talk with other parishioners and have a snack, then head to McDonald's for lunch, to play in the playplace and let mommy catch up on work online through wifi (since we have no internet at home). We will stay there and play (and work) for several hours before heading home (longer if it's too yucky outside to play).

A few Sunday's ago, while at Church, I noticed my oldest child pulling at his eyelashes during Mass. I fussed with him to stop, and then noticed him pulling out the hair at his hair line, looking at it after he pulled it out, and playing with what he pulled out. I was thinking to myself, what would make him want to do that? I fussed with him to stop and then thought nothing of it.

The next Sunday while at McDonald's I noticed that my child was missing whole *patches* of hair! I asked him what happened to his hair, and he replied, shyly, "I pulled it out". At this point, my mommy alarms start going off, and I start thinking, what is wrong with my child? Is this common? Now, I worked in a pet store for many many years so I am familiar with the fact that birds will pluck their feathers when they are stressed, and I begin to wonder if people will also pluck their hair out when they get stressed. I immediatly pull up a google window and search for "child pulling hair out" and instantly have a diagnosis: Trichotillomania.

As I am reading, I become more and more concerned with what I learn. In the online community, in support forums for people struggling with TTM, they refer to themselves as "trichsters" and thus, the name for my little trichster in this blog. I have found such a large amount of information online about TTM and it's relation to gifted children, children who have been through a divorce or death recently, and children with family histories of mental disorders. My little trichster is lucky (not) enough to have all three of these "triggers". I learned that TTM is very rare, with a male prevelance of only 1.5% of the population. I learned that when children develop it before age 8 it usually resolves on its own, but after age 8 (which my little trichster is) it becomes a chronic, long term problem.

My little trichster suffers from pulling the hair on his scalp, as well as his eyebrows, eyelashes, and arm hair (which he bites and pulls out). Though trichotillomania is regarded as an impulse control disorder, it is very closely related to OCD (and some texts will argue that it is part of OCD). My little trichster has also begun biting his nails until they bleed, and even at times will stab himself with pencils, usually at school. This self mutilation behavior can lead to very serious behaviors as he gets old such as cutting (especially the tongue, where it is harder to notice). As a result of the seriousness of the disorder and the possibility of it escalating, I immediately sought out counseling for him.

I went to Catholic Family Services first, but they referred us out almost immediately, deciding that it was outside of their scope. I then got my little trichster and appointment at a local mental health facility. We have been seeing the therapist every two weeks, and right now are planning an independent IQ test as well as a full psych evaluation for my little trichster, and do not have plans as of right now to medicate him. The therapist recommends homeschooling him, which seems to agree with alot of what I've read about gifted children with TTM, including from this amazing website. Another website that I have found helpful is the Trichotillomania Learning Center.

So, though we plan to get his independent IQ test (the school system did not put him in gifted due to him just barely not meeting their rubric score required), I am struggling with the idea of homeschooling him once again. I have thought he doesn't do well in school, even though his grades and behavior speak otherwise, he is very unhappy about not being homeschooled like he used to be. The romanticism of going to school has worn off on him and he just feels done with it. I have looked into many homeschooling programs and curriculums trying to find what would be right for my Trichster, and I am settling on the idea of enrolling him in Seton Homestudy.

Well, I will update more on my little Trichster as more comes about!