Background HAIR-PULLING was accorded the status of a classifiable symptom by a French dermatologist, near the turn of the century. Hallopeau10coined the term "trichotillomania" to describe an "irresistible urge to pull one's hair." Patients with this peculiar affliction were "otherwise" deemed sane. Although other dermatologists continued to point out the probable psychogenic etiology of the symptom, the psychiatric literature on the subject has remained scant. Ten English references deal with trichotillomania per se; only 28 cases of hair-plucking have been recorded at any length. While Cramer6states that hair-pulling and swallowing is one of a group of clinical phenomena appearing between the age of 1.5 to 4 years, which possibly are indicative of unresolved conflicts, Spock18observes that thumb sucking and simultaneous hair stroking are sometimes seen in normal children, representing attempts by the child to