Can Hypnotherapy Help Break the Habit?
Do you constantly twirl your hair around your fingers?
Perhaps you twist it, stroke it, pull at individual strands or find yourself repeatedly touching your hair when you are working, watching television, driving, reading or thinking.
You may not even realise you are doing it until somebody points it out.
Then you stop.
A few minutes later, your hand is back in your hair again.
Hair twirling can seem like a relatively harmless habit, but for some people it becomes frustrating, embarrassing or damaging to the hair itself. And because the behaviour often happens automatically, simply deciding to stop may not be enough.
Hypnotherapy can be used to help change automatic habits by working with the patterns and triggers that maintain them.
Why Do People Twirl Their Hair?
There is rarely one universal explanation and for some people, hair twirling begins in childhood and simply continues into adult life.
For others it develops during periods of:
- stress
- anxiety
- boredom
- concentration
- tiredness
- daydreaming
- emotional tension
Some people play with their hair while talking to others while others do it almost exclusively when they are alone. You might notice that it happens while concentrating on a screen, sitting in meetings, reading or trying to solve a problem. The important point is that the behaviour can gradually become associated with certain situations. Your brain learns a pattern:
Situation → hand moves towards hair → hair is twisted or touched
Repeat that sequence often enough and eventually very little conscious thought is required.
Why Can’t I Just Stop Twirling My Hair?
Because habits do not always operate at the conscious level you might genuinely decide:
“I’m going to stop doing this.”
For a few minutes, perhaps you do, then your attention moves somewhere else. Perhaps you become absorbed in your work, watch television, begin thinking about something and then suddenly your fingers are twisting your hair again. This does not necessarily mean that you lack willpower. It means the behaviour has become automated. Your brain is extremely good at automating repetitive behaviours. Usually that ability is useful. You do not consciously think about every movement required to brush your teeth, use a computer keyboard or drive a familiar route.
But the same learning process can automate unwanted habits too.
The Hair-Twirling Habit Loop
A useful way to understand many habits is:
Trigger → Behaviour → Response
For example:
Concentration → hair twirling → familiar sensation
Or:
Stress → touching hair → momentary soothing
Or simply:
Boredom → hair twirling → stimulation
The response does not have to be dramatic. as sometimes the behaviour simply provides a familiar sensory experience. Over hundreds or thousands of repetitions, the brain becomes very good at reproducing it. That is why breaking the habit usually involves more than telling yourself:
“Don’t touch your hair.” (Don’t think of a white polar bear… same same!!)
Can Hypnotherapy Help With Hair Twirling?
Hypnotherapy can be particularly useful when a behaviour feels automatic. Rather than concentrating exclusively on stopping the behaviour, therapy can focus on changing the sequence behind it. That might include increasing your awareness of the moment your hand starts moving towards your hair. You might begin noticing the behaviour earlier.
Instead of discovering that you have been twirling your hair for five minutes, you recognise the movement almost immediately. That small change in awareness creates an opportunity for a different response. Hypnotherapy may also be used to mentally rehearse behaving differently in situations where hair twirling would normally occur. You can imagine yourself:
working at your computer with your hands relaxed,
watching television without touching your hair,
talking confidently while your hands remain comfortable,
or concentrating deeply without needing the old behaviour.
The brain can begin learning a new pattern.
Replacing Rather Than Fighting the Habit
As I mentioned above, one mistake people sometimes make when changing habits is concentrating entirely on what they must not do.
Don’t touch your hair.
Don’t twist it.
Don’t play with it.
Don’t do it.
Ironically, constantly thinking about the behaviour can keep attention focused upon it. A more useful approach can be to establish an alternative. For example:
Hair twirling → hands resting comfortably
or
Stress → slow breath and physical relaxation
or
Concentration → hands occupied elsewhere
The objective is not to spend every waking moment fighting an urge, it is to help the brain learn that the old behaviour is no longer required.
Hair Twirling and Stress
Hair twirling does not automatically mean somebody is anxious, however, some people notice a definite connection.
The habit may increase when they are:
under pressure at work,
preparing for an examination,
experiencing relationship difficulties,
thinking about something uncomfortable,
or feeling overwhelmed.
In these circumstances it may be useful to work with the stress itself rather than treating the hair twirling as an isolated behaviour. Hypnotherapy can therefore address both sides of the problem, the automatic physical habit and the emotional state that may trigger it.
What If I Have Twirled My Hair for Years?
The length of time you have had a habit does not necessarily determine whether it can change. People sometimes assume:
“I’ve done this since I was a child, so I’ll probably always do it.”
But habits persist because the brain continues to repeat the pattern… Habits are not necessarily permanent. The important question is not simply:
How long have you done it?
It is:
What causes the behaviour to happen now?
Once we understand the present-day triggers and responses, we can begin working with them.
Hair Twirling Versus Hair Pulling
There is an important distinction between casually or habitually twirling your hair and repeatedly pulling hair out. Persistent hair pulling can sometimes be associated with trichotillomania, a recognised body-focused repetitive behaviour. If you are pulling out significant amounts of hair, experiencing bald patches, damaging your skin or finding the behaviour extremely difficult to control, it is worth discussing the problem with an appropriate healthcare professional.
Hypnotherapy may sometimes be used alongside other approaches, but professional assessment can be important where the behaviour is causing significant distress or physical damage.
Becoming Someone Who Simply Doesn’t Need to Do It
One of the most interesting points about changing a habit is what happens when the behaviour begins to lose its importance. Initially, you may actively notice yourself resisting it. Then you begin forgetting to do it.
You suddenly realise:
“I haven’t touched my hair for the last two hours.”
Eventually the old behaviour may begin to feel unfamiliar.
The goal is not necessarily to become exceptionally good at controlling hair twirling. It is to reach the point where there is increasingly little to control. The behaviour simply stops being relevant.
Hypnotherapy for Hair Twirling in Southampton
If you constantly twirl, twist or touch your hair and would like to break the habit, hypnotherapy may help you change the automatic patterns behind the behaviour. At Thoughtlounge in Southampton, I use an integrated approach combining hypnotherapy with behavioural techniques, coaching and psychological strategies.
The aim is to identify when the habit happens, understand what maintains it and help your brain develop a different response because an unwanted habit does not have to remain a habit forever.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I constantly twirl my hair?
Hair twirling can become associated with boredom, concentration, stress, relaxation or sensory stimulation. Over time it can become an automatic behaviour.
Is hair twirling caused by anxiety?
Not necessarily. Some people twirl their hair more when anxious or stressed, while others do it primarily through boredom or concentration.
Can hypnotherapy stop hair twirling?
Hypnotherapy may help by increasing awareness of the behaviour, interrupting habitual triggers and reinforcing alternative responses.
Is hair twirling the same as trichotillomania?
No. Hair twirling does not necessarily involve pulling hair out. Recurrent hair pulling that causes hair loss or significant distress may require assessment by an appropriate healthcare professional.
Can an old habit really change?
Yes. Habits are learned behavioural patterns. Even long-established habits can sometimes change when the triggers and automatic responses maintaining them are addressed.
Book a consulation or a session here.