This could be a sign of Trichotillomania, commonly known as an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pull out scalp hair, eyelashes, facial hair, nose hair, pubic hair, eyebrows, or other body hair.
Characteristics:
People with trichotillomania (nick-named trich-pronounced trick)have a tendency to literally yank out their hair. They feel isolated and angry because they feel like no one else does what they do. What many trich victims don't know is that trich affects about 11,000 women and 9,000 men in the United States. Trich is a mental disorder. People with trich may pull hair from their scalp, arms, legs, eyelashes, eyebrows, stomach, armpits, and pubic areas. There is treatment for trich. Antipsychotic medications like Risperdal are very effective. Trich can cause muscle tiredness, carpal tunnel syndrome, bald patches, itching, dandruff, and scabs. People with trich often wear scarves, hats, sunglasses, shave their heads, wear long pants, long shirts, apply fake eyelashes, and draw on their eyebrows.
Treatment:
Trichotillomania is a chronic problem, meaning that although one can recover from it, there is currently no specific cure, although OCD medications are highly effective. It can be stubborn, but with proper treatment and persistence, picking and/or pulling hairs can be greatly reduced and even brought under control (often called "hibernation"). Clinicians who are specialized in treating this problem are not always easy to find, but do have the techniques and training to bring about substantial improvement. Some often-prescribed medications include Zoloft, Celexa (Citalopram), Prozac, Risperdal, and BuSpar.
SEE CHILD'S PEDIATRICIAN.