The latest Dr Hen Says health education cartoon shares common BFRBs, including hair pulling, skin picking, nail biting, cheek biting, hair ingestion, and skin eating.
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs) is proud to announce a partnership with Dr Hen Says to bring greater awareness and understanding to body-focused repetitive behaviors through a health education cartoon.
Launching this morning through Instagram and Facebook, the latest Dr Hen Says health education cartoon features a series of illustrations focused on dispelling myths and misperceptions about common, but rarely discussed body-focused repetitive behaviors like hair pulling, skin picking, nail biting, cheek biting, along with hair ingestion, and skin eating.
The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors brings awareness and support to this underreported and misunderstood group of mental health disorders that impacts approximately one in 20 Americans. Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors are complex medical diagnoses that affect children and adults alike, and often cause shame, isolation, and emotional distress. Yet despite their prevalence, these behaviors are rarely discussed in the general public.
For many, BFRBs are self-regulating and serve some internal need. BFRBs are not self-harm or self-mutilation. BFRBs are not caused by trauma or bad parenting. When a person engages in their BFRB, physical damage is created as an unintentional result of their behavior, not as a self-harming mechanism.
"The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors is grateful to Dr Hen Says for their willingness to share factual information about hair pulling, skin picking, nail biting, cheek biting and other associated behaviors to grow awareness and understanding," commented Jen Monteleone, Interim Executive Director of the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors.
Dr Hen Says shares topics that are of health concern for audiences that can be difficult to discuss. The Dr Hen Says website and social platforms help to ease difficult conversations by raising awareness, debunking common misconceptions, and breaking through negativity with compassion, inclusiveness, and decency. By sharing information in a simple and non-intimidating manner, Dr Hen Says works to help individuals make better health decisions with a supportive community around health topics.
"I want to normalize the reality of living with a medical condition and encourage more open conversations," said Dr Hen. "No topic should be taboo, and no one should have to feel ashamed about their health challenge. Sharing credible medical information can help many; the more knowledge you have, the healthier you can be."
View all the Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs) Dr Hen Says Images:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1K4GXZYt1jkxm8r3kH57m1JkbjGKzebPy?usp=sharing
About the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors is a 501(c)3 health-related human services organization dedicated to supporting the 1-in-20 individuals experiencing body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) through advocacy, awareness, connection, health education, celebration, and equitable access to effective evidence-based treatments. To learn more, visit http://www.bfrb.org.
To learn more about hair pulling and other body-focused repetitive behaviors, download TLC's Expert Consensus Treatment Guidelines: https://www.bfrb.org/storage/documents/Expert_Consensus_Treatment_Guidelines_2016w.pdf
About Dr Hen Says
Dr Hen Says shares animation and illustrations on social media to raise awareness, fight stigmas, and build communities around health topics – using simple language, relatable characters, and a dose of light-hearted humor. Dr Hen Says works closely with many international foundations and universities. To learn more, visit http://www.Hen.World.
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Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
Subject Matter Experts for Media Interviews
The TLC Foundation offers the following subject matter experts for media interviews.
To schedule an interview, please contact:
Jen Monteleone, Interim Executive Director
E: [email protected]
P: 831-457-1004 ext. 1
Research:
- Dr. John Piacentini, TLC Board President & TLC Scientific Advisory Board Chair, UCLA
- Dr. Nancy Keuthen, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
- Dr. Jon Grant, University of Chicago
- Dr. Darin Dougherty, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
- Dr. Doug Woods, Marquette University
- Dr. Marty Franklin, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
- Dr. Tara Perris, UCLA
- Dr. Emily Ricketts, UCLA
Medicine:
- Dr. Jon Grant, University of Chicago
- Dr. Darin Dougherty, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Treatment:
- Dr. John Piacentini, TLC Board President & TLC Scientific Advisory Board Chair, UCLA
- Dr. Suzanne Mouton-Odum, TLC Board Vice President & TLC Scientific Advisory Board Vice Chair, Psychology Houston, PC
- Dr. Nancy Keuthen, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
- Dr. Charles Mansueto, Behavior Therapy Center of Greater Washington
- Dr. Fred Penzel, TLC Board Vice Secretary & TLC Scientific Advisory Board Secretary, Western Suffolk Psychological Services
- Ruth Golomb, Behavior Therapy Center of Greater Washington
- Dr. Doug Woods, Marquette University
- Dr. Marty Franklin, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
- Dr. Tara Perris, UCLA
- Dr. Emily Ricketts, UCLA
Media Contact
Christina Towle, The TLC Foundation, 1 9162200169, [email protected]
SOURCE The TLC Foundation
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