Our Story:

It all started a few weeks back.  My husband and I noticed little girl's eyes looked puffy.  She had been rubbing them and said they were itchy.  So we thought nothing of it, and gave her some allergy meds and then I put some eye drops in her eyes.  A few days later, they still looked "funny".
The next day I went to pick her up at preschool.  Her teacher pulled me aside and asked what was going on with her eyes.  She pointed out to me that her top eye lashes were missing!  My first thought was "Oh my gosh, her lashes are falling out!"  I had asked her if she pulled any out because we have seen her rubbing them for days now, but she said no.  I was immediately worried that something was wrong with my little girl, and something was causing her lashes to fall out.  I was concerned it was alopecia, or maybe she had an allergic reaction to the drops...  I called her pediatrician immediately and made an appointment for the next day.

Later that evening, she went with Daddy to go pick up a pizza.  When she returned I noticed two new bald spots in her eyebrows.  It had been obvious to me now what was going on.
So I carefully asked her again, "Baby, are you sure you didn't pull on your eyebrows?  It's ok to tell me, I won't be mad, I just need to make sure you're ok and you're not sick so I need to know what happened"  She finally admitted to pulling.  At this point, I wasn't completely positive I knew what was going on, but I have heard of this hair pulling disorder before so I was hoping this isn't what we were dealing with. Perhaps it was just a fluke, curiosity got the best of her.

As we got ready for bed that night, she asked me if her eyebrows would grow back, and if her friends at school were going to see.  Despite the sadness I felt for her at that moment, I remained positive.  I told her not to worry, her friends won't even notice, and mama would fix it tomorrow before school.  I talked with her for a little while, and explained to her why we have lashes and brows, and the important job they do.  She seemed to really receptive.  I tucked her in and said good night.

Minutes later, I noticed that she had left her favorite purple blanket and snoopy downstairs, so I went up to bring it to her.  When I walked in her room, she was buried under her blankets.  When I uncovered her, she was crying and told me that the rest of her eyebrows "fell out".  When I asked her why she pulled them out she told me "I can't stop my hands from doing it".  My heart shattered in a million pieces.  It took every ounce of energy for me not to break down and cry in front of her. At that moment I knew.  I knew we were dealing with something serious and it wasn't just a fluke.  I asked her if it hurt when she pulled them out and she said no.  I asked her if she pulled any of the hair on her head and she said no.  All I could do is hug her and tell her that it's ok, and she's going to be fine.  

I went downstairs and broke down in front of my husband.  He went upstairs and laid with her until she fell asleep.  And that is the night my research began... Google was my best friend, and I began my quest to find an answer, something to tell me what to do, something to tell me it was going to be alright.