Tricotilomanía asociada con trastorno de ansiedad generalizada.

BACKGROUND: Trichotillomania is defined by the DSM-5 as a disorder in which the patient pulls out their hair on a consistent basis, whether it be hair from the scalp, eyebrows, or any other region of their body. It causes significant functional impairment. This disorder is considered among the compulsive obsessive disorders. The areas most frequently affected are scalp, eyebrows, eye lashes and pubic hair. Lifetime prevalence is estimated between 0.6-1%. CLINICAL CASE: A 51-year-old female patient, who had presented symptoms of anxiety for the past 11 years. In the past 4 years symptoms had worsen progressively with compulsive night hair pulling which intensified after social stressors. At external inspection at the frontoparietal area of the scalp we found a localized alopecia with an irregular circumference of approximately 10 cm in diameter, so secondary neuromechanical alopecia was diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: In several psychopathologies, hair pulling can be a symptom, so a psychiatric consult is very important to evaluate comorbidities and classify the symptom of hair pulling within the clinical picture. Like other dermatoses of psychic origin, the diagnosis of trichotillomania does not imply that these patients should be treated only by the psychiatrist. The Dermatology service plays an important role in hair pulling disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]