Hair Loss And Depression

General Hair Loss

Its a fairly obvious statement, but the loss of a persons hair can often lead to some form of depression of a varying degree. The real question however is what is more likely to cause depression? Hair loss itself, or a constant cycle of failed “solutions”?

I have worked at HIS for a little over three years now. During this time I have met, had telephone conversations with or exchanged emails or forum posts with countless people who all had one thing in common. All were concerned with the loss of their hair.

No two people are the same, and each had their own unique story to tell. What I can’t help but notice however, is that these men usually fall into one of two camps – either they would prefer to have their hair back but it wasn’t going to make or break them, or they are utterly depressed by the loss of their hair and may have tried several other solutions already to remedy the problem.

Personally I fall into the first camp. I don’t like the fact that I’m losing my hair (I’m a Norwood 4 or 5 at the time of writing), but if there were nothing I could do about it, I’d just accept the situation and move on.

So why is hair loss a bigger deal for some people than others?

I don’t have a definitive answer to this question, but I can offer my opinion. Personally, I believe that hair loss is a source of anxiety for most people, but to what extent depends on their underlying confidence level.

As we travel the pathways of life, we all experience different things that combine to form our attitudes, opinions, personality traits and crucially, our insecurities. As a result, each person is a completely unique mix of emotions and therefore respond to different events in different ways. Someone who is more self-conscious is likely to react poorly to any detrimental change to their physical appearance. Conversely, a person whose circle of friends contains a large number of balding men are more likely to accept their situation as normal and feel less self-conscious about it, as they are more likely to consider the loss of their hair as ‘normal’.

Videos like these may be humourous, but they’re not particularly helpful and reflect the “just deal with it” attitude that many people have towards hair loss related depression.

Whats the worst case scenario?

Over time, anxiety can lead to depression and possibly a condition called Body Dysmorphic Disorder. This is a psychological condition that prevents a person from being happy with their appearance. BDD usually persists even when the supposed ’cause’ of the problem is eliminated, for example a woman with BDD would remain unhappy with her breasts even after the surgery she thought would make her happier.

For more information about Body Dysmorphic Disorder see the links at the bottom of this page.

What advice can we offer?

The key to eradicating depression related to your hair loss is to be absolutely honest with yourself, and establish whether or not your depression is actually linked solely to your hair loss. If not, then no amount of solutions will make you feel better in the long run.

If you are absolutely sure that by fixing your hair loss situation you will rid yourself of depression, then set yourself a timescale within which to address the problem. The key here is closure, so set a date and stick to it.

Next, you need to decide what route you wish to take. Aside from our own MHT technique there are various options available including hair transplant surgery, hair systems, concealers or drugs like Minoxidil and Finasteride. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages so make sure you do your research (although “do your research” does not give you an excuse to procrastinate!).

It might be an idea to join our forum, as most of our members have tried various solutions already and are always happy to share their experiences.

**UPDATE** – This subject is currently being discussed in our forum, on this thread.

For more information please see the following links:

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