Published on 12, July, 2020
I have so many other little minor oddities which I wonder may stem from Autism. Or possibly OCD.
I often have the urge to pull out my eyelashes with my finger nails. Most of the time until there are none left.
I also pull out my nasal hair with tweezers.
I wonder if anyone else has this?
Done some more digging..
Sensory phenomena are often described as a need to feel good internally or a need to calm a generalized internal tension , which are similar to the symptoms of hair-pulling disorder (HPD), characterized by a strong urge to pull the hair and the posterior reduction of anxiety or tension. Similarly, sensory symptoms appear in mental disorders characterized by RRBs, such as ASD, OCD, HPD, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Specifically, 45% to 95% of individuals with ASD and 65% of adults with OCD experience sensory phenomena before ritualization.
Two recent studies have shown that individuals who execute body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs: hair-pulling, skinpicking) tend to display heightened reactions to ordinary sensory stimuli, such as clothing textures (e.g., being bothered when touching soft towels, or wearing a turtleneck). In a study by Falkenstein et al, participants with trichotillomania (pathological hairpulling) reported higher auditory and tactile responsivity than comparison participants.
oh interesting! I’m on the higher functioning side of the spectrum so my reactions towards sensory issues is a bit masked