Alopecia

Are you feeling anxious about how you look or worried it will get worse? Do you feel like hiding or dread people noticing? Have you lost trust in your body?

… Talking to a therapist who lives with alopecia can help.

Losing your hair can be a scary experience. It’s not something you can plan or prepare for in any meaningful way. It alters our appearance, influences our identity and self-esteem, and it shows up in our relationships. All of this is before we even begin to consider how those outside of our inner circle react to us. Alopecia is not ‘only’ a physical experience; it is also a deeply emotional one.

Alopecia is punctuated by uncertainty. It’s near impossible to feel any sense of confidence in how you will look next week or next year. This can lead to losing trust in your body and may mean internalizing some of the many messages there are about how acceptable we are based on our appearances.  I understand how painful and distressing it can be to live in a world that seems to prioritize looks when you have so little control over your own.

“Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off”

— The Velveteen Rabbit

Alopecia is closely related to stress and has a psychological component. For some types of hair loss, this is about the experience of living with alopecia and its social impacts. For other types, stress can initiate the onset of hair loss by triggering an autoimmune response. Many people will experience alopecia in response to anxiety, distress, trauma, or loss which compounds the suffering even more.

Psychological support can be a vital part of successful treatment. Your hair loss story is as unique as you are and this means that the therapeutic support you need has to be tailored to your specific needs too. We know from research that people with alopecia areata are likely to have more difficulty dealing with stress. It can also be difficult to talk to loved ones about the reality of living with alopecia, especially if you are trying to protect them from your distress.

If any of this resonates with you, and you would like therapy with someone who understands alopecia from the inside, please get in touch. I can give you the space to really explore what your hair loss means for you and learn skills to regulate your stress response.

I have in-person availability in Eastbourne, East Sussex and online via video. Working online means we can work together regardless of where you are in the UK while perhaps avoiding issues around travel, accessibility or finding childcare.

You can read about my experience of alopecia over on the Growing from the Hard Places blog.