Encore: The compulsive and complex behaviour I kept hidden for years

2026-07-28

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Adele Dumont was a teenager when she first started pulling out her hair, an urge that became so uncontrollable she was left with a bald spot.She would sometimes enter a trancelike state, covertly sitting on her bathroom floor, picking at her scalp for hours on end.The urge to pull at her hair was uncontrollable, and secret.When Adele finally put a name to her behaviour, she learnt that trichotillomania has a complex history and psychological understanding, much of which remains unknown.This episode of...

Adele Dumont was a teenager when she first started pulling out her hair, an urge that became so uncontrollable she was left with a bald spot.

She would sometimes enter a trancelike state, covertly sitting on her bathroom floor, picking at her scalp for hours on end.

The urge to pull at her hair was uncontrollable, and secret.

When Adele finally put a name to her behaviour, she learnt that trichotillomania has a complex history and psychological understanding, much of which remains unknown.

This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024

The producer was Meggie Morris and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney

Further information

The Pulling is published by Scribe

Some helpful resources on trichotillomania include Trich Stop and The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours

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