User:Clipovsky2010/Sleep Isolated Trichotillomania

 

Classification
There are two divisions of TTM: automatic and focused. A subdivision of the automatic TTM is sleep-isolated trichotillomania. Sleep-isolated trichotillomania is characterized by unconscious hair pulling behavior only while one is asleep. Those affected by sleep-isolated trichotillomania (SITTM) are not always aware of their hair pulling tendencies and can be made aware by family members who have observed them while they are sleeping or by awakening with the pulled hairs left behind on a pillow or blanket

Signs and Symptoms
In sleep-isolated trichotillomania, the people suffering from the impulse disorder pluck their hair only during sleep. Due to their unconscious plucking, a few of the only indicators that one may have SITTM are unexplained bald spots and hairs left behind on the pillow or bed where they sleep.

A case study observed that a woman experiencing sleep-isolated trichotillomania "was unaware of the behavior when she did it, did not awaken directly from it, and did not recall it upon awakening."