Olivia Munn is a Trichster

Olivia Munn (photo by Misha Erwitt for NY Daily News)

I'm a little slow on the uptake here, but a few weeks ago, actress Olivia Munn "came out" as having trichotillomania. She didn't arrange a press conference or anything, but she happened to mention it in an interview with the New York Daily News.

Her exact quote:

“I don’t bite my nails, but I rip out my eyelashes. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s really annoying. Every time I run out of the house, I have to stop and pick up a whole set of fake eyelashes.” 
- Olivia Munn, interview with the NY Daily News

For a couple of days, the story was on all the news websites and celebrity gossip sites. If you Google Olivia Munn right now, 2 weeks after the original article, there are still a couple of sites mentioning it on the first page of search results.

And what was the internet's reaction to this breaking news?

A great big "Meh."

Which I think is a good thing!

Really, no one said "OMG So nasty!" or "Whoever has that disorder should be rounded up and shot!" A lot of people commented on the sites that they, too, have the disorder and were glad a celebrity felt like she could talk openly about something that is normally hidden.

Only one site was even borderline offensive about it, and that was Celebitchy's article Olivia Munn Suffers from Trichotillomania. The worst part was this quote:

"She’s also a plucker. But in the grossest, most neurotic way ever. Olivia has just admitted that she suffers from Trichotillomania – compulsive eyelash-pulling."

Which didn't even bother me that much. Because honestly, what do you expect from a name like "Celebitchy?"

Another good thing about it was that the Huffington Post was inspired by this bit of "news" to write an informational article on trichotillomania: Trichotillomania: What Is The Disorder That Makes Olivia Munn Rip Out Her Eyelashes?

So, like many people with trichotillomania, Olivia Munn probably won't lose many friends or fans over this admission. Personally, I've never lost any friends after admitting to them that I pull out my eyelashes. Hopefully not many of you have, either.

If you liked her before, you probably still like her. If you didn't like her before, then it doesn't really matter, does it?

Trichotillomania and... Mel Gibson?

Trichotillomania got a little bit of bad press this week through an association with that big ball of crazy, Mel Gibson. In the saga of Jew-hating-in-need-of-anger-management Mel Gibson vs. ex-girlfriend-and-mother-of-his-baby Oksana Grigorieva, her latest accusation is that some bruises and scratches around her face and eyes came from a fight with Mel. Well, Mr. Gibson has fired back that her scratches came from the "emotionally unstable" Oksana's trichotillomania:

(Click on the image to read the TMZ article.)

Not that I would ever defend Mel Gibson, but he's not saying Oksana is unstable BECAUSE she has trichotillomania. The association is there, yes, but I don't think his intent to make fun of trichsters. I just don't want to be guilty of hyping this up to be something more than it really was.

PS: If you read the article, don't read the comments unless you feel like getting angry. I've discovered this is generally true about most pages on the internet that allow comments.

Trichotillomania Awareness Week

Did you know that this past week (10/1 - 10/8) was Trich Awareness Week? I didn't find out until today. Here is some information about it.

ABC News story on Trichotillomania

Trichotillomania a True Medical Mystery

News story about some people who were interviewed about having trich. Nice that it's getting some press.