"Body-focused repetitive behavior" (BFRB) is a general term for any disorder that makes someone touch their hair and body in ways that result in physical damage — like bald patches, skin discoloration, bleeding, or scarring.
Trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder), compulsive nail-biting, and dermatillomania (skin-picking disorder) are three common BFRBs.
We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to share what living with these compulsions is really like.
Here are just some pictures and stories that they shared. By the way, we know photos like these can be triggering for people who deal with BFRBs, so we've opted to blur them so you can choose if you have the bandwidth to look. As a heads up, though, some of the responses also contain detailed descriptions that might be triggering as well.
15. "I have acne on my face, chest and arms, but my scarring wouldn’t be anywhere near as bad as it is it I didn’t default to spot-squeezing when I’m anxious/upset."
20. "I'm too embarrassed to even go get a haircut because I don’t want the stylist noticing and asking about my bald spots and broken hairs."
Seeing other people dealing with the same thing you are is a great way to feel less alone, but if you found a lot of things in this post a little too relatable, you might want to look into ways to take care of yourself. So, here are some quick resources, just in case:
You might want to read more about BFRBs and check out resources and information on how to get treatment.
You can read about anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder, since BFRBs can be a symptom or coping mechanism of both.
You might also want to check out tips from our readers who know the struggle: