When a pretty, refined-looking young woman with shoulder-length black hair went to the No. 7 People’s Hospital in Hangzhou, eastern China, and entered Dr. Luo Fugang’s psychiatric consultation office, he didn’t notice anything amiss.
Then the anonymous 21-year-old university student removed her wig, revealing a bald scalp.
It turns out that as a teenager, the young woman developed a habit of pulling out her hair to reduce stress, particularly during exam periods.
“Back then, there was a huge amount of pressure from my studies,” she told Qianjiang Evening News. “I was really stressed because I had to attend all sorts of training classes.”
When she was 13, the girl accidentally ripped out some of her hair and miraculously felt better.
Dr. Luo identified the woman’s compulsion as stemming from the pressure she experienced in her childhood. “Her mother is a teacher and has been strict with her since she was young,” he said. “The many restrictions affected her emotional state.”
Before pulling her hair, the girl had compulsively bitten her nails.
“I thought my hair would just grow back, so I didn’t care about it much,” she said, explaining how she continued to pull out additional hair throughout her middle and high school years to combat anxiety.
