Am I Psychologically Inducing My Eyebrow Hair Loss?

Hello Dr Rassman,
I believe that I have body dismorphic disorder. The object of my obsession is my eyebrows. I am 28 years old and ever since I can remember I have been overly obsessed with them and constantly plucking them and checking them in the mirror. It has now gotten to the point where I think about them EVERY waking moment and check them in the mirror anywhere from a few minutes up to an hour at a time about 20 times a day… literally. The problem is that one of my brows (my left one) keeps growing hair and then it falls out without any reason. I have seen a derm and primary doc and they don’t see any underlying pathology.

So, my question to you is: can it be possible that I am psychologically inducing this hair loss? I have heard of telogen effluvium (which I don’t think this is as it is localised to my one brow) but have you ever heard of or do you think its possible to be so focused on one part of your hair that it is causing hair fall? I really need your help as I have exhausted all efforts and would love to know your thoughts as a hair loss expert. By the way this has been going on (hair growing and falling out) for about ten years now. God bless.

I’ve never heard of the ability to cause hair loss in a particular area (left eyebrow, in your case) just by focusing attention on it without some kind of physical contact to the hair.

It sounds like you have trichotillomania. It is an obsessive compulsive disorder that needs professional help.