Dr Hen Says Creates Informative Health Education Cartoon about Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors with The TLC Foundation

(SANTA CRUZ, CA– AUGUST 18, 2022)

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, former 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 of the Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs) Dr Hen Says Images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1K4GXZYt1jkxm8r3kH57m1JkbjGKzebPy?usp=sharing 

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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 www.bfrb.org. 

To learn more about hair pulling and other body-focused repetitive behaviors, download TLC’s Expert Consensus Treatment Guidelines.

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 www.Hen.World.