MY 20 YEAR SECRET - IT'S NOT ALOPECIA OR CANCER, I HAVE TRICHOTILLOMANIA
A mum who has hid behind the hair loss condition alopecia for the last 20 years has bravely revealed a secret compulsion to tear out her own hair that has tormented her since she was a child. For more than two decades, Zena Williams has allowed anyone who noticed her bald patches to believe that she has the auto immune condition that causes her hair to fall out on its own. But in the wake of No Pulling Week, the mum-of-one has now bravely revealed that she has been pulling out her own hair since she was a child. At various stages in her life, Zena has been left almost completely bald by her compulsive addiction to hair-pulling - a little understood psychological condition called trichotillomania. When age 11, having removed most of her hair over the course of a single summer, she returned to school wearing a wig, cruel classmates soon spread the rumour she had cancer, calling her 'cancer face' and subjecting her to relentless bullying. But still Zena refused to reveal the truth about her condition, believing no one would be sympathetic to the compulsion which has blighted her life ever since.
Other great stories
SEXUALLY ABUSED AT 9 BY GRANDAD
A survivor of abuse has bravely waived her anonymity to tell how she was sexually assaulted from the age of nine - by her depraved grandad .
MOUSE A-DOR'S SPRING
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JOLY THE WOLLY FALLS FOR PARKING PRANK
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WOMAN GAINED 5ST IN A YEAR DUE TO CRIPPLING POSTNATAL DEPRESSION, BUT PHOTO SHOCK SAW HER LOSE 7.5ST AFTER SHE DIDN’T RECOGNISE HERSELF - NOW SHE’S A SLIM SIZE 8
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MIDDLE-AGED SOMERSET COUPLE TAKE UP WRITING TO DEATH ROW INMATES
A middle-aged couple from Somerset have developed a rather unusual hobby to occupy their time: writing to killers on death row .
UNLIKELY PLAYMATES: BRAVE CHICKS PLAY WITH A PYTHON
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BRITAIN'S LOST MILITARY HOSPITAL
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SUMMER ARRIVES AT LAST
Britons have finally received some good news about the weather with temperatures expected to reach 30 degrees this weekend .
GIRL NICKNAMED JAWS BITES BACK AFTER SURGERY
A GIRL nicknamed JAWS by bullies who taunted her because of her underbite is em-bracing her new post-surgery life .