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
HUNGRY GORILLA ENJOYS DINNER
SHOVELLING food into his mouth, this hungry gorilla enjoys a peaceful moment at dinner time .
SUMMER’S OVER! SQUIRREL CLINGS TO UMBRELLA IN THE RAIN
An adorable red squirrel says goodbye to the summer as he shelters from the rain underneath a small blue umbrella .
AMAZING LIGHTNING PHOTOGRAPHY
STRIKING photos capture nature at its most raw and powerful during Earth’s most electrifying event .
YOGI - BEAR - POLAR CUBS MORNING BEAR-ROBICS
A young polar bear cub becomes the yogi bear as she stretches off for a morning aerobics session .
CROCODILE CAVE DIVING PENSIONER
THIS DANGER-mad female pensioner could be the oldest Brit to cage dive with CROCODILES .
AERIALS OF FLOODING ON SOMERSET LEVELS
Sam Notaro built his own flood defences to protect his four-bedroom home in Moorland, Somerset Flooding is likely to get worse around Somerset as groundwater levels continue to rise .
CAGE -FIGHTER BF FRACTURED MY EYE SOCKET, NOSE, BIT MY FACE AND FORCED ME TO MAKE HIM A SAUSAGE SARNIE AT KNIFEPOINT
After Leigh Hancock, 36, joined Fallon Bramall's boxing gym she owned with her husband, the pair took him under their wing .
WOMAN LOSES 13ST AFTER BEATING HALF-TON POTATO ADDICTION
A woman has lost over 13st after beating her addiction to POTATOES .
MAGNIFICENT SNOWY OWL
An elegant snowy owl spreads her wings and glides effortlessly above the snow covered field .
SLEEPING IN THE MOONLIGHT
With the full moon looming behind him, this polar bear nestles down for the night .
GOOGLEMAP WHALESHARKS
DIVING boffins fired harpoons into 30-foot-long whale sharks in a bid to put the sea-beasts on Google Maps .