Evelyn Stewart, a UBC professor of psychiatry, was quoted in a CBC story about trichotillomania, a hair pulling disorder.
Stewart said the disorder seems to be connected to genetics and a person’s environment, but more research is needed to determine specific causes.
“Maybe there’s modelling,” Stewart said, adding that people with hair-pullers in their immediate family are believed to have a higher risk of becoming hair-pullers themselves. “So if kids are watching their parents distractedly pull their hair, it might influence them.”
