Advice for twin of someone with trich?
Hey everyone!
As a twin who has been through emotional abuse from parents, and who has been diagnosed with C-PTSD, I've looked out for any signs of mental illness from the same experiences in my sister for a while now. I always knew she was a little more anxious than the average person, but I'd noticed she'd started pulling her hair out. Thankfully, she recently started seeing a psychologist and was there officially diagnosed with trichotilomania.
As her twin, I really want to support her however I can. However, she's got a number of speedbumps ahead of her:
1. We still live with our parents, and they point out her hair a lot as part of the abuse. This has led her to be extremely conscious of her habits which makes her more anxious which makes her pull more of her hair out - it's a cycle. They keep telling her she's balding. Should I stand up to them? Should I tell her it's okay? Or that she's not balding? I don't know.
2. She's very reluctant to open up about much to her psychologist. She told me that she just wants her trichotilomania 'fixed'. Of course I could be wrong, but, it seems to me like it's linked to her anxiety but i don't have any experience or knowledge about it so I don't know what to tell her.
If anyone has any suggestions, advice, opinions or ideas, please do let me know!
Thanks~!!
@uniqueOcean72
heya!!
the first thing which came to my mind reading this post was that she's lucky to have you by her side &-&
for the first thing you mentioned, your parents being around is not a positive thing to consider bur maybe just trying to calm her down, by telling her that she'll be ok or any other ways you think would help calm her anxiety and stop the cycle of anxity multiplying everything...
and about the number two, opening up to people, even if they are psychologists is really hard sometimes... yeah anxiety can multiply every bad feeling or any self health condition as far as i know... but i think that you can be a very big help to her by just being there for her, listening to her when she needs you to and trying to calm her anxiety down in a way you think would be helpful...💙
@Listeningsarinn
Thanks so much for your thoughts! Yeah, my own psychologist recently told me to make sure I don't push my sister too much... I just can't help it, you know, being worried and all. I'm gonna try harder to give her more space and time to go through her journey though, and I'll absolutely be there to support her with whatever she needs!
@uniqueOcean72 always💙
yeah i get you, it's close to impossible not to worry about someone you love and care for... But you know, space and support can both heal *~*