“Hello, today’s video is very special. I am shaving all my hair off. And I’m terrified.”
That's how vlogger Rebecca Brown begins her newest video on her YouTube page TrichJournal. Uploaded on Jan. 1, the video shows Brown shaving her hair off to deal with a condition she suffers from called Trichotillomania, which causes people to compulsively pull out their hair.
“It’s either shave my hair or lose my hair," she says. "I’m fed up being triggered and tortured by the hair on my head and I don’t really feel that I have any other option.”
Brown has been documenting her struggle with Trichotillomania since 2012 when she created her YouTube page TrichJournal. She has been dealing with the disorder since she was 11, but wasn't diagnosed until she was 18.
“For many people watching, they may think this is a bit excessive or unnecessary and it’s not," Brown explains. "Countless people with my disorder have to go through this.”
“I’m not scared of shaving it off or being bald. That doesn’t scare me," Brown says. "It’s what it symbolizes that hurts.”
This is the seventh time Brown has shaved her head because of Trichotillomania. "You can’t give up with a disorder," Brown says at the end of the video. "Even when you hate it, you just have to keep going.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Brown was diagnosed with Trichotillomania at the age of 11, and that she had shaved her head twice.
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