Hair is so important it's not even funny. The way it frames your face and the importance of that can never be overstated. You go from having nice defined features and good symmetry to some goddamn egghead when you lose your hairline and forelock. Then, when the diffusing and further balding also kicks in, you age so much beyond your years...
Your hairstyle is also one of the only things you can alter, when it comes to your appearance, hence losing the ability to do so at will is mentally super devastating. These NW1 guys who speak about shaving your head don't know anything - sure they can shave it any time they want, but they'll still have a flawless NW1 hairline framing their face and their hair will grow back normally - it's all by choice. When you go bald, the "choice factor" goes out of the window and if you're a person whose identity or part of it is based around your hair and overall appearance, it becomes really ****ty.
For instance, I had a lot of friends in the heavy metal scene and some visual rock scenes (j-rock, gothic rock etc) pre-balding and while it goes beyond the superficial aspects; many people in those subcultures rock certain hairstyles and visuals. When you go bald, you don't really feel like you fit in. Most of those cultures are kind of youthful too, so given how much balding ages you, you feel like a creepy old man stalking on the kids. Sure, I still listened to the music, had my friends and went to certain gigs, but it wasn't the same when I looked 10-15 years older than my friends, just because of my hair or lack thereof.
Looking back at pics when I was NW3V with a lot of diffuse thinning at age 22 (****ty forelock, wispy density on top), I looked like a 30-35 year old dude, despite my babyface. I had to compensate by dressing more sharp, as I would look more ridiculous dressing more youthful and stuff. The bald look just clashes so badly with a babyface, youthful features etc, that it becomes devastating both looks-wise and mentality-wise.
Never again, I'm glad to have regrown hair. Will do whatever it takes to stay below NW2.5 now, be it going from finasteride to dutasteride, trying experimentals, getting a hair transplant, even going the wig route eventually. For now, the big three is doing its magic and I am back to NW1.25-1.5~ and feeling good every day. Balding ****ing sucks.
