Woman who uncontrollably ripped her hair out becomes internet sensation

Rebecca Brown, a 21-year-old from Essex who suffers from a compulsive urge to pull out her hair, posted the time lapse video which shows photos of her battling an impulse control disorder called trichotillomania.

The end result was a four-minute video made up of more than 2100 selfies taken over six and a half years.

Ms Brown began pulling out her hair when she was 12 and was almost completely bald by the time she was 16. Doctors failed to diagnose the condition for five years, with many telling her to sit on her hands instead.

After being bullied at high school she turned to the internet, blogging about her experiences and began photographing herself everyday as a way of chronicling her battle with the disorder, which deteriorated when she was 19 when she shaved her head which was already partially bald.

In one of her earlier videos she explains how whenever she was stressed or upset she used to play with her hair but then began experiencing ''hair fits'' which lead to her uncontrollably ripping her hair out.

''Before I was diagnosed, doctors advised me to do all sorts of silly things. One doctor told me to stop fidgeting,'' she said.

At a conference that focused on educating people about the illness in the US last year, she said that since she began video blogging her experiences, it takes her three hours a week to respond to fan mail and messages of support.