Dealing with psychological troubles with hair loss?

[outbulk]

Hey guys,

I'm constantly stressed and depressed about my hair loss for the last couple of months, since I started noticing my male pattern baldness.

I used to be way more positive and happy when I didn't know I was balding, at 18 years old, showcasing my NW2 with a sleazy hairstyle.

My school performance and social life is also suffering from constantly stressing about male pattern baldness, due to spending hours on reading anything related to male pattern baldness, and being self-conscious about my hair all the time.

Do you guys have any idea on how to stop worrying all the time about hair loss?

Thanks

 

[Notcoolanymore]

Fred gave you some good advice on dealing and living with hair loss, use it. I would like to touch on the whole psychological troubles thing you mentioned. Mainly, don't get down on yourself about psychological problems. In my old age I have learned that we ALL have them. And no I am not just talking about men suffering with hair loss. Everybody has some kind of issues whether it be with our moms, dads, upbringing, anxiety, depression, etc. Everybody is dealing with something. Most just don't admit it. I have my own set of problems which I have no problem admitting it.

 

[Lollerme]

Hey guys,

I'm constantly stressed and depressed about my hair loss for the last couple of months, since I started noticing my male pattern baldness.

I used to be way more positive and happy when I didn't know I was balding, at 18 years old, showcasing my NW2 with a sleazy hairstyle.

My school performance and social life is also suffering from constantly stressing about male pattern baldness, due to spending hours on reading anything related to male pattern baldness, and being self-conscious about my hair all the time.

Do you guys have any idea on how to stop worrying all the time about hair loss?

Thanks

Yeah, SSRI's. They'll help you getting out of a depressing situation.
Get on finasteride or dutasteride to prevent further loss and perhaps get some regrowth. Read the success section of this forum to see what can be achieved I advice you not to hang around in this section too much :$, these people have lost the fight but you have a chance yet.

 

[MrRandy]

Hei outbulk, I agree with the above comments. You are not alone and hair loss is not that big deal that should depress you and affect your life. There is a great number of people who suffer from much more severe disorders like obesity, disabilities, mental disorders or some life threatening conditions and we here should say 'Thank you God, it is just hair loss'.

Surely, dealing with hair loss requires some lifestyle changes like healthy diet and exercising, no smoking and taking some preventive measures like Finasteride or Rogaine, but these are all for good. Be healthy!

 

[Exodus2011]

so much ignorance . . . . . idk where to start

eh **** it im lazy. ucman or fred can take this one

 

[bilboswaggins]

*Takes a deep breath*

We are not alone but being in the 5% of people who starts losing their hair at 17 can make you feel pretty alone among your peers.


*Is out of breath*

are you sure its 5%?
I see people in age range of 18-25 everywhere at uni and rarely do I come across someone with hairloss

 

[EvilLocks]

Hei outbulk, I agree with the above comments. You are not alone and hair loss is not that big deal that should depress you and affect your life. There is a great number of people who suffer from much more severe disorders like obesity, disabilities, mental disorders or some life threatening conditions and we here should say 'Thank you God, it is just hair loss'.

Surely, dealing with hair loss requires some lifestyle changes like healthy diet and exercising, no smoking and taking some preventive measures like Finasteride or Rogaine, but these are all for good. Be healthy!

Obesity worse than hair loss really? So a 100% self inflicted contition is worse than inheriting something that you have no control over? Fat people made themselves fat, and they can also lose that weight. Hair loss sufferers doesn't have that luxury, and you can hardly call Minoxidil and Finasteride viable treatments as they do not work for everyone, and they can also stop working after a few years. Also, as person that has suffered from serious mental disorders for many years, I can honestly say they pale in comparing to hair loss. Nothing has ever felt as soul crushing as losing my hair. Losing your hair is losing your identity, and being deemed less worth by society. It's not something to be taken lightly.

 

[lkm370]

Hair loss has lead me down a path of ever increasing depression, anger, and BDD. Sometime the depression is so severe, I end up jobless for a month or 2. To be fair, Ive always been the depressive type as it runs in my family but nothing could prepare me mentally for dealing with this. It has gotten easier over time but I just feel like a 60 year old man in a 25 year olds body...both physically and mentally. More so mentally because constant anxiety, and depression takes its toll on your and erodes your ability to realistically deal with your surroundings. Sometimes I just walk around in a daze and people think I'm either high or drunk but really the years of severe unrelenting depression has just made my brain retarded

 

[uncomfortable man]

Not much I can add in response to what fred and evil have already said. And I recognize lkm as a real nw5 bald man, which holds no other value than realizing and understanding that what he has to say is real and not full of shyt.....which actually goes a long way here in HLTland.

 

[yadayada029]

Regarding BDD, I found this article interesting. Particular that 4 out of 5 of the people asking the question "am I ugly" are men, not women. http://www.psychguides.com/interact/am-i-ugly/

 

[bilboswaggins]

Regarding BDD, I found this article interesting. Particular that 4 out of 5 of the people asking the question "am I ugly" are men, not women. http://www.psychguides.com/interact/am-i-ugly/

probably because ugly women still find hookups while ugly men cannot
also because women trick themselves into thinking they are not ugly by putting cement thick makeup on their faces

 

[paulie72785]

^^Couldn't agree more.

 

[RoyD]

Hey guys,

I'm constantly stressed and depressed about my hair loss for the last couple of months, since I started noticing my male pattern baldness.

I used to be way more positive and happy when I didn't know I was balding, at 18 years old, showcasing my NW2 with a sleazy hairstyle.

My school performance and social life is also suffering from constantly stressing about male pattern baldness, due to spending hours on reading anything related to male pattern baldness, and being self-conscious about my hair all the time.

Do you guys have any idea on how to stop worrying all the time about hair loss?

Thanks

Hey outbulk and welcome to the forum. Now I'm not an expert at dealing with hairloss because I have issues as well. Despite being suffering for 4 years now there's not a day that I don't think about it or a day when I don't look into the mirror to judge my hair at least 5 times. I even joke that in the gym where there are mirrors all around I check out my hair more than my muscles.

Anyways like a few others have said, do get on meds and don't be scared of anything or what anyone says. Take the leap because if it works for you it's 100% worth it. I have had very minor success with meds. You can check out my regimen atm. The best thing is that despite being on dutasteride I have had 0 side effects. The scare stories are just an exaggeration. At the same time if you do have genuine side effects you can always stop. The 0.005% chance of permanent side effect doesn't outweigh the benefit you will get if it works.

Coming to the social aspect, even I began balding early and went from NW1 to NW3 in my time in college and it did affect my confidence in many ways. It's easier said than done but you have to just get on with it.

Basically you might never come to terms with it. Just look at people like Fred who has gone through it all and had a hair transplant and still comes here everyday. Even I do almost everyday if I have the time to come to terms or just let out the frustration. The hairstyle you want is upto you and I won't tell you what to do because even I've been guilty of the combover despite preaching against it.

Personally the only way in which you can avoid thinking about hair loss is think about other things. You can only do that by getting your priorities right. Concentrate on the things that can compensate for hair loss at least to some extent. Study hard and earn money, workout and get fit, socialize and make good friends even if on the path you will have people make fun of your hair loss and don't hold back if you want to give them a piece of your mind. Basically have fun in life. I've noticed the times I've thought least about hair loss is when I'm on vacation or surrounded with my close friends. I think more about it when things in my life are not working out.

Anyways if you need any more advice I'm always going to be here because I don't think I'm even going to have a reason to leave xD I'm going bald and there's nothing stopping it.

 

[MrRandy]

Ok, guys, I didn't have the intention to hurt someones feelings. We all came here for support and I just wanted to inspire outbulk who sounds so desperate.

I'm the same hair loss sufferer and it was also hard to me to accept the fact that I'm losing hair. I know it is hard to accept especially when your friends and colleagues make it a subject of joke. Possibly some of my examples like obesity were not so fair, (you are right people do it by themselves) but I just wanted to emphasise that the more severe conditions really exist. I'm sorry, may be my ideas about life seem to be preconceived, but I haven't seen people who have been disfigured due to an accident and who were more happy after it, than before it. Talking about the life threatening conditions I meant cancer, that destroys a person in several months and takes his life very fast.

I want to learn to live with hair loss and came here for support, tips and friends. Sorry once again, if my comment seemed to be ignorant.

 

[EvilLocks]

Is cancer really worse if we take into account that chemotherapy patients have to luxury of having their hair grow back most of the time?

I can tell you that IF given a choice between going through cancer and losing all my hair but coming out of it alive, or not going through cancer but losing my hair to Androgenetic Alopecia, it would be easy. No amount of chemo therapy would be worse going through than the constant agony of permanent and progressive hair loss. I don't think that I'd choose cancer death over hair loss though, it's a terrible death to endure. But then again so is life with hair loss, only it's a death of the soul and not the body.

 

[paulie72785]

Life is pain.You have no control over what you get.
So either you can live with it or just deal with it.

 

[shookwun]

I can tell you that IF given a choice between going through cancer and losing all my hair but coming out of it alive, or not going through cancer but losing my hair to Androgenetic Alopecia, it would be easy. No amount of chemo therapy would be worse going through than the constant agony of permanent and progressive hair loss. I don't think that I'd choose cancer death over hair loss though, it's a terrible death to endure. But then again so is life with hair loss, only it's a death of the soul and not the body.

No you wouldn't. stop talking bull****.

When you go through chemo, not only the hair on your head is lost but every where else as a result.

Go get a wig already, and be done with it. There is no other option besides sulking.

 

[VeprSuper]

Evillocks, why are you anti wig? There are millions of options and are totally socially acceptable.

 

[EvilLocks]

No you wouldn't. stop talking bull****.

When you go through chemo, not only the hair on your head is lost but every where else as a result.

Go get a wig already, and be done with it. There is no other option besides sulking.

Yes I would. And you're the one talking bull, because you can't decide the opinion of another person. This is my opinion OK?

I'll try to explain it to you, like I've done to others so many times.

Chemo is horrible, but if I got the choice between fighting through chemo and surviving with my hair growing back at the end of it,
or losing my hair forever but no chemo, I would choose to go through chemo and get my hair back 110% no doubt. In my opinion it's better to fight through a hard time but come out on the other end fine, than being in a life-long constant nightmare with no hair. Hair is very very important to me so I'd fight through pretty much anything to have it. Also why would I care about body hair loss when I'm a girl? I shave it almost daily anyway. Again, I'd 110% choose fighting through chemo and have my hair back than losing it forever. This is my opinion about my own body, so stop talking crap and just let me have my opinion OK?

Get a wig really? How many times have I heard this? I'll say it again; a wig is uncomfortable, hot, expensive and limits many activities. But the worst thing is having to remove it every day and see my bald head. I just don't know if I can deal with that. Sure, I'll get a wig but I'll never get "over it" and be "done with it." I will never be done with it, I will always be a wig prisoner and always lack something 99,9% of other girls take for granted.

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She's still going to have to look at her bald head every night when she takes it off and every morning before she puts it on. Even though a decent human hair wig would look completely like her natural hair, it's going to be uncomfortable on hot days, and activities are going to be somewhat limited. Even opening an oven door can damage the hair, I was told. Wigs are expensive to maintain too. I don't think she's anti-wig; I think she's depressed because she'll be a prisoner to it for the rest of her life--and I don't blame her.

Thanks for understanding, Joan I just don't understand how some of the guys here are so obsessed with me wearing a wig, like that is a viable solution for hair loss..

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Evillocks, why are you anti wig? There are millions of options and are totally socially acceptable.

I'm not anti-wig, I'm "glad" there is an option for women (or men) with hair loss. That said, I really just don't like the thought of wearing one.
It's hot, uncomfortable, expensive, you worry about it falling off all the time, limits activities like sex, swimming, working out etc etc etc. If you look at wig forums many members are very unhappy living as a wig prisoner..

 

[2tite2014]

I'm not anti-wig, I'm "glad" there is an option for women (or men) with hair loss. That said, I really just don't like the thought of wearing one. It's hot, uncomfortable, expensive, you worry about it falling off all the time, limits activities like sex, swimming, working out etc etc etc. If you look at wig forums many members are very unhappy living as a wig prisoner..

What about a hair system? You can't pull those off even if you wanted to.