Amelia, eight, has virtually no hair left apart from a few longer strands at the back of her head and does not leave the house without a bandana or wig.
An eight-year-old schoolgirl has been left almost bald after ripping out her hair due to the stress of lockdown.
Amelia, eight, from Bristol has virtually no hair left apart from a few longer strands at the back of her head and does not leave the house without a bandana or wig.
Her mother, Jemma Mansie, first noticed her daughter began pulling out her eyelashes a month into the first lockdown.
She believes the stress of the lockdowns could have triggered a condition known as trichotillomania, in which a person cannot resist the urge to pull out their hair in response to a stressful situation.
She said she tried not to overthink it when she first noticed Amelia pulling out her eyelashes but eventually she had “no eyelashes left at all”.
She said the hair pulling continued to get worse as time went on and that she had begun pulling at the hair on her head during the winter lockdowns.
At first, a few hairless patches began to appear underneath at the back of her head.
“Things still carried on and Amelia’s hair pulling got really bad that she has pulled out virtually all of her hair on her head, “ Jemma told Caters news agency.
“She had hair just below her shoulders before, and now her head has a few short hairs on top and a few long strands at the back.”
Jemma said her daughter was more laid back about it when her condition was less noticeable but that she no longer has the confidence to leave the house without a bandana or wig. Amelia is aware that she is pulling her hair out but “does not like to talk about it”, she said.
Her mother said it has been “very emotional” to watch her go through this and that she has learned not to be so pushy by telling her to stop when she catches her at it.
“I know that she is still beautiful and amazing regardless, but when I am washing her head it makes me so sad for her,” she said.
Describing Amelia as a “happy, lovely and clever little girl”, Jemma said her personality has changed since she pulled out her hair and now isolates herself.
She has told her mum that older girls at school have said horrible things about her hair, and that she worries what people will think of her.
Doctors have confirmed that Amelia is suffering from trichotillomania after initially saying that she would grow out of the habit when she returned to school after the summer holidays.
As well as seeing a school therapist weekly, Jemma is also paying privately for Amelia to see a hypnotherapist each week in a bid to try and help her daughter.
“My main priority is wanting to help Amelia get her confidence back and accept who she is,” Jemma said. “She is beautiful regardless.”