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
COUGAR: I FELL FOR MAN 18YRS MY JUNIOR BUT MY SONS DIDN'T COME TO OUR WEDDING

A woman has revealed how she left her husband of 24 years, after falling in love with a man, 18 years her junior .

OWNER PREVENTED FROM FINDING CAT UNDER DATA PROTECTION ACT

A mother has spoken of her outrage after discovering her missing cat had been stolen - only to be told she cannot have its location due to the Data Protection Act .

WOMAN NEARLY DIED AFTER PNEUMONIA TURNED INTO SEPSIS – HER LUNGS COLLAPSED AND HER LIPS TURNED BLUE

A woman has revealed how she almost died after she developed sepsis from a cold .

KITTEN IN WHEEL

A panic stricken kitten that got her head stuck in a car tyre has been freed by quick thinking RSPCA staff .

HEROIC BURNS SURVIVOR BECOMES FIREFIGHTER

An American man who suffered horrific third-degree burns to 70 percent of his body in a childhood accident has faced his fears by becoming a firefighter .

NERVOUS SQUIRREL

EAGERLY BITING his nails, this little squirrel is clearly nervous of looming predators as he searches for his meal .

PUTIN'S TINY ARMY 

Some parents would gasp at the thought of their children playing with a toy gun, but these Russian children are actually encouraged to take up real arms .

TRAPPED IN THE BODY OF A 10 YR OLD: TEENAGE GIRL BORN WITHOUT HORMONES

She is about to start driving and soon will be able to legally buy alcohol and get married, but Poppy Webb-Jones still looks and thinks like a ten-year-old girl .

SLEEP DISORDER WOMAN COLLAPSES EVERY TIME SHE LAUGHS

A woman with a rare condition that means she collapses every time she laughs fears she may have passed the rare illness onto her young son .

HOP ON! FASHIONABLE FROG TRIES A SNAIL HAT ON FOR SIZE

FLAUNTING its new accessory, a fashionable green dumpy tree frog poses for the camera while wearing a SNAIL as a hat .

GARY BARLOW SUPERFAN LOSES 11ST AFTER ‘HORRIFYING’ SELFIE

A Gary Barlow superfan has lost an incredible 11st after a selfie with the pop star left her horrified by her 22st 9lb figure .

IT'S BEHIND YOU: PHOTOGRAPHER IN WALES IGNORES GIANT WAVES

Southern England, the south-west and west Wales have been warned to expect more wild weather, with heavy rain and high tides possibly leading to coastal flooding and travel disruption over the weekend .