Hair is a multi-million-pound industry. It is a potent sign of femininity, sexuality and health. As a nation, we are obsessed with it: we preen it, cut it, style it, dye it and spend millions on it every year. Losing it can be devastating.
Yet across Britain thousands of women are literally tearing their hair out. They suffer from trichotillomania, an impulse control disorder that causes people to pull out their own hair, often to the point of extreme baldness.
This First Cut film explores the reasons behind this by meeting three women living with the condition who are desperate to get their hair-pulling under control.
-
-
Fri 16 Jul 2010
Hair is a multi-million-pound industry. It is a potent sign of femininity, sexuality and health. As a nation, we are…
- This programme has episodes with subtitles available.
-
MORE:
-
The Stuttering School
1 Episode
First Cut follows two people with severe stammers on the McGuire Programme four-day intensive course, which helps people who stammer overcome their affliction
-
Hairy Women
1 Episode
A frank examination of some of the embarrassing - and often very distressing - problems around female body hair
-
My New Brain
1 Episode
Cutting Edge follows 20-year-old Simon Hales on a remarkable journey through rehab, as he and his family come to terms with the challenges of life after he suffered a brain injury
-
The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off
1 Episode
A frank and moving film about Jonny Kennedy, an extraordinary man with a terrible condition - Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) - which means his skin literally falls off at the slightest touch
-
The Boy Who Was Born a Girl
1 Episode
Julia Moon's First Cut film follows Jon, a 16-year-old boy who was born a girl, through three months of life-changing treatment as testosterone pushes his female body into male puberty
-
Sex, Lies and Parkinson's
1 Episode
Oliver Cheetham's First Cut film meets Vicki, a mother-of-two diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's, as she deals with her condition and the effect her medication is having on her life
-
Bleach, Nip, Tuck: The White Beauty Myth
1 Episode
Two documentaries from the Race: Science's Last Taboo season examine the growing trend for deracialisation surgery
-
The Ugly Face of Beauty
4 Episodes
With the increasing popularity of cosmetic surgery in the UK, Dr Christian Jessen shines a spotlight on the industry and comes to the aid of women who have fallen victim to botched operations
-
Bouncers
1 Episode
Funny, irreverent and often surprising film following the boys of Newport's biggest security firm over a summer of booze and brotherhood
-
The Hotel
2 Series, 13 Episodes
A real-life Fawlty Towers, this comedy-doc looks at life above and below stairs at Torquay's Grosvenor Hotel
-
One Born Every Minute
3 Series, 24 Episodes
A ground-breaking look at the drama and emotion of a maternity unit, from the perspective of the parents-to-be and the maternity ward staff
-
Confessions from the Underground
1 Episode
A rare glimpse into the parts of the Tube network that passengers don't see, revealing the dilemmas and pressures the staff must reconcile to keep this complex and strained system running Follow us on Twitter #Underground
-
Coppers
5 Episodes
Filmed across Britain, from inner cities to country beats, Coppers reveals what the police are up against every day of their working lives
-
15 Kids and Counting
3 Episodes
Three-part series exploring the lives of some of the UK's biggest families
-
Gypsy Blood
1 Episode
Gypsy Blood examines the violent culture that some gypsy and traveller fathers hand on to their children, exploring its impact on two fathers and their young sons
-
Terror at Sea: The Sinking of the Concordia
1 Episode
On Friday 13th January, the £400 million Costa Concordia cruise ship capsized off the Italian coast. This programme explores how and why it went down.
