Trichotillomania is a psychological disorder in which a person compulsively pulls out their hair. I have suffered from it for the past 5 years. I went 3 years without eyebrows, and in the 9th grade, I pulled almost every hair on my head. I went a year last year without pulling at all…but I relapsed, and now have a huge bald area on the top of my head, which I cover with a bandana. I have been tortured, humiliated, and made into a freak. I had to wear a wig during the 2nd half of my sophomore year, and had it repeatedly pulled off by my peers out of their sick “curiosity”. This is art. This is art because I believe that art is anything that expresses a person’s thoughts, beliefs, dreams, perspective, or self. This picture expresses my pain and frustration as a teenager. I pull out my hair to relieve stress. I don’t do drugs. I don’t have sex. I don’t drink alcohol. I don’t smoke cigarettes. I don’t shoplift. I’m not in a gang. I don’t break the law. I simply pull out my hair. And somehow, I seem to be damaging myself more than if I just rebelled. I have spent 5 years trapped beneath bandanas, hats, combovers, and a wig. I’ve been stared at. I’ve been questioned. I’ve been separated. And don’t ask why I don’t just stop. I have stopped. Don’t tell me to stop until you have gone through what I’ve gone through. The stress. The pain. The frustration. The combover at prom. The guys who wont go near you. The undeniable urge to pick up a pair of tweezers and just pull out ever hair. Nobody’s perfect. I just want to be accepted.