Oxford professor hopes to break stigma around hair pulling and skin picking
Clare Mackay is raising awareness after struggling to talk about her own hair pulling
A neuroscientist at the University of Oxford says people struggling with hair pulling, skin picking and nail biting should know they are not alone.
Professor Clare Mackay studies these body-focused repetitive behaviours, known as BFRBs, and also has first-hand experience of living with one.
She said that while the behaviours are common, they can have a serious impact on some people.
“More than 50% of people will say they sometimes pick, pull or bite at themselves if asked that question," she said.
“The number of individuals who are feeling significant amounts of distress associated with BFRBs is about 5%. That’s still one in 20 of us.”
Professor Mackay said she began pulling out her hair when she was 12 years old.
“I thought it was only me, my parents thought it was only me, and that’s really common among people with BFRBs,” she said.
“I was in my late 20s when I realised it was a thing and that other people do it. But it took me another decade and a half to feel able to talk openly about it.”
After thirty years studying the brain alongside her own experience of hair pulling, she decided to bring the two parts of her life together through her research.
The feeling of shame
Professor Mackay says one of the biggest impacts for people living with BFRBs can be the shame surrounding the behaviours.
Her own hair pulling resulted in missing eyelashes and eyebrows and a bald patch on the crown of her head.
"I hated looking like that and it feels horrible to not look how you're supposed to," she said.
As well as physical consequences, she said it is frustrating at being unable to stop the behaviour.
“We sort of assume that we should be able to control ourselves. So the feeling of ‘these are my hands and yet I can’t control what they do’ - that’s a really hard thing to live with,” she said.
Professor Mackay said reactions from other people can also make the problem worse.
“Often people who are trying to be supportive might be telling you off for picking, pulling or biting yourself, pointing out when you’re doing it or pointing out the consequences of it,” she said.
“Unfortunately it just adds to the shame that we feel.”
BFRBs are not just caused by anxiety
While anxiety can trigger picking, pulling or biting, Professor Mackay says it is important not to assume someone displaying the behaviour is anxious.
“These behaviours are fundamentally self-soothing, which is why we do them when we’re anxious, but they’re also self-stimulating, which is why we might do them when we’re bored or trying to concentrate,” she said.
Professor Mackay says there are ways people can learn to manage BFRBs.
“Being able to stop completely might not be possible and, actually, if you set that as your goal then you will always feel like you’re failing,” she said.
“What I set instead is a goal of managing my hair pulling at a level where it’s not causing me significant distress - and that’s doable.”
She hopes greater awareness of BFRBs will help people recognise the behaviours and feel more able to speak about them.
“One of the big goals of the work that I’m doing is to raise awareness so that people don’t feel alone with these behaviours.”