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
CARE WORKER WHO BROKE SPINE IN ‘SHINING’ SEX ATTACK CALLS FOR TOUGHER SAFETY MEASURES

A care worker who broke her spine after jumping from a window to escape a sex attack at the hands of a resident has called for tougher safety measures to protect care staff .

ADORABLE POLAR BEAR CUBS PLAY-FIGHT IN THE SNOW

A pair of adorable polar bear cubs play-fight with each other in the Alaskan snow .

OH DEER: MOMENT DEER CRASHES THROUGH WINDSCREEN OF BUS

With no luck at the front of the bus, the deer runs around the center seats trying to escape through the window – THIS is the astonishing moment a DEER crashed through the front windshield of a bus before it went hysterically running around the vehicle .

FIRST FEMALE JACKASS

FROM KISSING an alligator on the nose to walking over broken glass, this fearless daredevil is a real life female JACKASS .

MOODY GORILLA

SAT with his arms folded and a cross look on his face, this Gorilla looks like he's had enough of the Christmas holidays already .

BACKFLIPPING SHARK SOARS DURING SEAL HUNT

Exploding out of the water, a great white shark performs a backflip during a hunt for seals .

GOOGLEMAP WHALESHARKS

DIVING boffins fired harpoons into 30-foot-long whale sharks in a bid to put the sea-beasts on Google Maps .

CUDDLY TRAVEL BUNNY IS STOLEN AFTER JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD

An intrepid explorer hopes to be reunited with his travel partner, after his cuddly toy companion was stolen .

STAR-TI-LING: 40,000 STARLINGS MIMIC HITCHCOCK'S THE BIRDS

STAR-TI-LING: 40,000 STARLINGS MIMIC HITCHCOCK'S THE BIRDS- This could be the fearsome scene from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds as a flock of 40,000 starlings bask in the heat of a wonderful British sunset .

BLIND MAN BEATEN WITH BRICK FOR SAYING HELLO

A BLIND man was battered with a brick in a sickening attack by two thugs .

LONDON HELICOPTER CRASH

A helicopter has crashed landed in Central London .