Contemplated Suicide?

[Flipsyde10]

I agree that it is depressing that we're losing our hair, but suicide is not the answer. I'm a med student, and I've seen some sh*t that makes hair seem about as important as the lint in your couch. You may not have hair, but you have your health. Consider these people that I've had the pleasure of meeting:

A cute little 4 year old girl that can't walk due to spina bifida without the help of bigass Forest gump leg braces. Nor will she ever be able to.

A 10 year old girl that has no spleen because of her Sickle Cell disease, and now needs regular antibiotics to prevent her from the ever present danger of going into sepsis and crumping.

An 14 year old boy with Cystic fibrosis that needs to have his back beat on every morning so he can clear his lungs to breathe. He will die when he's about 30, and he knows it.

A 23 year old dude with schizophrenia that can't miss 1 day of his medicine or he starts to see sh*t coming out of the wall to get him.

A 24 year old girl with Wilson's disease that takes her meds every day to keep copper from building up in her brain, which causes her to see sh*t coming out of the walls as well.

These are just some of the young ones, and I'm only a medical student, so I haven't seen much of anything yet. Ask some of the residents and private docs about some of the stuff they've seen, and it will change the way you see some things. I wish I had better genes, and I'm doing what I can to stop my hair from falling out, but all I know is that I'm glad I can walk on my own and don't have to worry about if I'll be able to breathe the next day when I wake up.

This isn't a rant or anything, but try to keep things in perspective man. Everyone goes through crap in life, as was stated above, but some really get the bloody diarrhea dropped on them. If these people have the longing to keep going, then I'm sure you and the rest of us can find that strength too.

 

[JayBear]

Nice post Flipsyde, horrifying stuff but the perspective is much needed. And as much as you might envy the guys with thicker hair, there are enviable things about all of you too. I'd be lying if i said i never considered suicide, even maybe once or twice because of my hair loss, but suicide ends everything, not just the bad stuff.

 

[s.a.f]

I guess that life has to be put in perspective. If you're severly disabled or terminaly ill then its an utter tragedy. Obviously in this situation the whole concept of life is changed expectations are lowered and just being alive to observe the world and experience another day is all that matters. These people would give anything to be in our situation.

Now for our situation:
So losing your hair is not a tragedy nor will it kill you,
but it is extremly frustrating, not to mention depressing and confidence destroying. Many of us are thinking that if we could just have control to change this aspect of our lives then it would make all the diffence. Our confidence would improve and give us the will to make the most of our lives and achieve our full potential.
Anyone else feel like this?

 

[Guest]

i honestly think that everyone at one time or another has contemplated suicide.

Or just wished that they'd never been born. If suicide was easy I think the world would be a much less crowded place.

Suicide is easy if you are talking about the actual act. Just find a 15+ story building and jump off the top onto a hard surface. Guaranteed death.

If you're talking about working up the courage to do it then that is much tougher. I've thought about killing myself before but not because of my hair. I thought about doing it becuase I was so incredibly depressed. I tried twice. I guess that some people on here who have thinning hair could become incredibly depressed from it.

I guess one of the reasons I don't do it is I have a girlfriend that cares a ton about me. If I didnt have her then I just might do it.

 

[tembo]

Flipsyde,

So as a med student, what is your opinion about taking Propecia and POSSIBLY messing up your long-term health/prostate/testosterone-estrogen ratio etc.... just for the sake of POSSIBLY getting a few years of hair maintenance?

Also, based on current scientific advances and recent news about Intercytes getting a UK government grant, do you feel that hair loss will only be an option in a few years and not something that can't be controlled?

 

[Nathaniel]

If you commit suicide, either with a weapon or jumping off a cliff, consider the poor souls who will be doing the cleaning.

 

[person_123]

If we knew what was in store for us after death, we might commit suicide more readily, or not at all.

Imagine if after you kill yourself, you know you're going to heaven. Everybody would kill themselves.

If you kill yourself, and your conciousness stays with you, whilst you rot in the ground or feel your body be eaten by maggots, then maybe you wouldn't kill yourself.

It's the unknown that deters us. Sure, many people will say "nothing will happen, it'll just end". But you never know.

 

[Flipsyde10]

Honestly, I'm not the one to ask about cutting edge treatments. I do understand the mechanics of what people are writing here, but I haven't done any research of my own. We don't really talk about hair loss specifically in med school (maybe mention it once or twice only). Most of the stuff we learn is broad, like hypertension, diabetes, internal organ system diseases, trauma, delivering babies, psych stuff, etc. I would defer to Collegechemstudent or Bryan for this (and other well-read folks), since they seem to be on top of that stuff. I won't pretend to know things I haven't really trained extensively on.

But from what I've seen, propecia is a pretty benign drug for most people. Alot of docs I've been with give it out pretty readily if the guy looks like he's starting to bald. It's gone through testing and has been out long enough to get pretty good long-term data I would suspect. I haven't actually seen any docs giving dutasteride or Proscar (5mg) for just male pattern baldness, but the majority of people we see in the clinics aren't as well-read as the people here, nor are they really that well off that they can afford to pay out of pocket for stuff like propecia/dutasteride (as opposed to more basic needs).

 

[s.a.f]

I know this is going to sound pretty morbid so I'll apologise in advance, but I've encountered a few people in my life who have commited suicide (2 hung themselves, 1 jumped from a bridge) and although I dont condone it I have to say that I admire their will for actually going through with it.
The human body is totally geared toward our own personal survival eg the way we learn to recognise/remember dangerous incidents and the way that even if you are badly injured the body uses all its resources to keep the internal organs functioning.
So to be able to overide this most natural instinct and cause your own end is actually quite a feat. I think about what these people must have felt in their final moments before they took that 'last action' and I just cannot imagine what they must have been feeling.

 

[Solo]

Suicide is surrender.


No matter how many arguments you can expose here, suicide is just, plain and simple, surrender.


The easiest way out.

 

[TheGlamorous]

As much as I hate hairloss,

As much as I look in the mirror every hour wishing it'll look better,

As much as I get depressing thoughts about how my life will change,

As much as it makes me wish I could live one of my friend's lives,

It's not NEARLY enough to make me want to end my own life.

 

[ugly_and_balding]

I have. I've never seriously attempted it though. I messed myself up badly, but never ended up in the hospital. although i was put "on watch" once too. But, in my case, I'm so hideous I'm practically deformed, and this even before losing all my hair. I had a nightmare of a time getting girls then, and now without hair it's basically impossible. I might as well become a eunuch. Actually it's probably better that I'll never get married and have a child, because it would be a horrible curse (even sin) to pass my genetic material on to some unsuspecting child who will only grow up to live a nigtmare of sorts. Certainly people suffering from paralysis and a range of terrible diseases have it worse than me, and I admire their strength and courage, but I'm basically like a balding 27 year old circus freak. It probably would have been better if I were never born. At least there are no standard expectations for people suffering from terrible disabilities and diseases, but me? When I cover myself up with long clothes and a hat I can almost pass as a normal looking person, so then I'm expected to be and live like everyone else, but of course I'm not, and my life is hell (and full of constant humiliation). But in the end I guess I'm afraid of going to hell (or someplace) and hurting the two or three people who actually care about me, so I doubt I will ever do it. So no one else do it either, okay? Try to have some fun. And in the immortal words of Tupac Amaru Shakur: "My only fear of death is reincarnation."

 

[ginald]

ugly and balding,

what exactly is it about you that makes you look a freak?

 

[ugly_and_balding]

Ginald,

Well in addition to just being ugly, I have a severe case of a genetic skin disorder called Keratosis Pilaris, which basically looks like red, permanent goose bumps which cover your arms and your legs. There's really no treatment for it and definitely no cure either. So add that to my already excessive body hair and pale lilly white flesh and my bald head (plus ugly face) and you have one hideous man. Plus my skin is super sensitive too and prone to break outs etc. Over the course of my life I've actually had random people just bluntly say "you're ugly" to me. I guess I should respect them for being honest.

 

[TheGlamorous]

Ginald,

Over the course of my life I've actually had random people just bluntly say "you're ugly" to me. I guess I should respect them for being honest.

Don't respect people for saying things like that.

Nobody has any right to say those two words to anybody. Calling somebody "ugly" is not being honest. It's being rude and condescending and you shouldn't have to put up with it, let alone try and find excuses for their selfishness.

People like that are "ugly" on the inside. And when they get old, it will show on the outside.

 

[tchehov]

People like that are "ugly" on the inside. And when they get old, it will show on the outside.

That's a very unfair remark - to equate the ageing process with some sort of punishment. We all get old, but we aren't all ugly, inside or outside.

ugly_and_balding, at least you have no illusions about yourself. I admire that.

Screw them all and just hope someday they'll get theirs (sometimes they do).

 

[Skaff]

I don't live for my hair so I sure as hell wouldn't die for it.

 

[sphlanx2006]

I am so glad to see people with same thoughts like me...
I would never commit suicide because of my hair but that is only because i would never commit suicide in general. Unfortunately we got our head 24/7/365. I wake up thinking about my hair, i sleep thinking of my hair. I dont like to sit in the front sit of a car because people behind me can see better of my balding crown. I dont like to get under strong lights cause they make me look even balder. Whenever a friend or a relative comments about my baldness(just for fun:S) i get depressed. Many respects to the guy who said something about DHT stimulant in global water sources...I was never jealous of anything but now i am jealous of people who have hair. Its a burden we always carry...god i am depressed once again

 

[TheGlamorous]

That's a very unfair remark - to equate the ageing process with some sort of punishment. We all get old, but we aren't all ugly, inside or outside.

No, I mean that really mean/angry/spiteful people who look good when they are young- actually turn out looking sour in the long run.

I wasn't saying that everybody gets ugly when they're old.

 

[JayB]

Honestly, I'm not the one to ask about cutting edge treatments. I do understand the mechanics of what people are writing here, but I haven't done any research of my own. We don't really talk about hair loss specifically in med school (maybe mention it once or twice only). Most of the stuff we learn is broad, like hypertension, diabetes, internal organ system diseases, trauma, delivering babies, psych stuff, etc. I would defer to Collegechemstudent or Bryan for this (and other well-read folks), since they seem to be on top of that stuff. I won't pretend to know things I haven't really trained extensively on.

But from what I've seen, propecia is a pretty benign drug for most people. Alot of docs I've been with give it out pretty readily if the guy looks like he's starting to bald. It's gone through testing and has been out long enough to get pretty good long-term data I would suspect. I haven't actually seen any docs giving dutasteride or Proscar (5mg) for just male pattern baldness, but the majority of people we see in the clinics aren't as well-read as the people here, nor are they really that well off that they can afford to pay out of pocket for stuff like propecia/dutasteride (as opposed to more basic needs).

hey flipsyde-
please check ur PMs