Hi everyone
I thought I would share with you all part of an article I wrote for Hairline International(a U.K. charity for alopecia sufferers) ten years ago-its my story. I wrote this because I was fed up with members negativity-everyones writings were about "when my hair grows back my life will start-it made me angry. The founder wrote a book called 'The Hair Loss Cure'-so this is my own hair loss cure!
" The Hair Loss Cure may be the title of Elizabeth Steel's book on Alopcia but it means a lot more to me than mere regrowth. My hair started falling out in 1973. Usually by the time I discovered each patch it had started to regrow. Then another patch would appear. This went on until February 1998 when I lost all my head hair. During the following year I lost all my body hair then finally my eyebrows and eyelashes. My eyelashes ended up on my pillow and in my eyes over the course of a week-ouch!! So now I have Alopecia Universalis and tell people I am like Duncan Goodhew without the swimming talent!!
I have gone through a bad time but with the help of a Clinical Psychologist-to whom my wonderful G.P. sent me-I am coming through the end of a dark tunnel. it has been explained to me that most of lifes traumas are within our control but Alopecia is totally outside our control. We just have to watch it happen and so we lose confidence and find it impossible to cope. The hair loss controls us.
I was taught to grieve for my hair because it IS a loss.People say 'Its only hair' or 'its not going to kill you' . That is all irrelevant. It did kill the old Bren and now there is a new one. the self image is the thing to work on. With my wig and my face on nobody will ever know if I didn't want them to. It was what I saw in the mirror that was so painful. It has taken me a long time to accept finally that this is me as I am now.
I am the same person as before, but I am much more confident and much stronger because I have had to work very hard to get here. I stand up for myself now much more than I ever would before .
I changes between wigs and bandannas depending on my mood (and the weather!) People still stare if I'm wearing a bandanna or cap so now I stare back and make THEM feel uncomfortable, instead of running off to hide and cry like I did at first! They are the ones with a problem not me! I cannot help being bald and its nothing to be ashamed of."
I hope you will find this useful - it was good typing it again!
Bren