How to keep your confidence during hair loss


Hair loss (Alopecia) can be stressful for both men and women, but significantly more distressing for females. If you dive into historical archives, there is evidence that attitudes towards hair loss have been overwhelmingly negative. Therefore, it isn’t easy to live happily in a culture that views hair as a symbol of good health and youthfulness.

According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, about 6.8 million people in the United States, and approximately 47 million worldwide will suffer from hair loss at some point in their lives. In alopecia, hair follicles are wrongly targeted by a person white blood cells (immune system), resulting in the disruption of the hair-growth cycle. The affected hair follicles become small, slow down production, and grow no visible hair on the surface for months or even years.

Alopecia can be temporary; unfortunately, it can also be permanent. Whether an instance of hair loss is temporal or permanent is dependent on many factors such as genetics, nutrition, aging, hormones, and overall wellbeing.

Hair loss can occur due to skin problems, stress, chemotherapy, hormonal imbalance, and many other reasons. The choice of lifestyle, from what we eat, to how we take care of our hair, also plays a huge part in hair fibers’ strength.

Alopecia causes many people to be troubled and embarrassed; fortunately, there are many ways to increase your confidence as you face your new reality.

1.    Identify the cause of your hair loss

The first step to regaining your confidence is to understand the reason for your hair loss. We all shed some hair daily, (quantity differs from one to another), but this is not classifiable as alopecia. Hair loss is usually caused by medication, genetics (inherited from parents), hormonal changes, and medication side effects. If you are suffering from chronic alopecia but don’t know the cause, you need to find out. Talk to qualified personnel to help you figure out the cause. Demystifying the cause of your hair loss places you in a better frame of mind to embrace it.

2.    Ignore negative comments

Sometimes, friends or strangers can ask random personal questions. If your confidence has nosedived because people question your hairstyle choice, an effective way to respond is to ignore them completely. When you pretend you didn’t hear the comments, you do not have to acknowledge it. Another way to address this – confront the questioning party explaining you prefer not to discuss your appearance. Either way, these two methods will leave you feeling more confident than brooding on the insult.

3.    Acknowledge Hair loss benefits

Another way to boost your confidence is to acknowledge some documented benefits of baldness. Baldness is not only beautiful, but it is also generally believed that the man with no hair is socially mature and has attained a certain level of increased social status. This is a wonderful perception for people to have of you in any gathering. Baldness has also been associated with physical strength.

Being bald will drastically reduce the amount of time you spend grooming in the morning. You will comfortably skip the blow-drying, brushing, and styling associated with grown hairs – just apply a simple moisturizer and a sunscreen, and you are ready to step out.

4.    Strengthen your mental muscles

By strengthening your mind, you will find plenty of reasons to be proud of yourself. Playing word games, learning a new skill or language and meditation are activities that can strengthen mental muscles. The smarter these activities make you feel, the better you will feel about yourself. The human intellect is positively correlated to confidence levels. As you toughen your mental muscles, your confidence level will enjoy a boost. You will realize that hair loss does not define you – you have lots of great qualities.

Your hair loss may be a result of factors beyond your control, but you can choose how to respond to it. You can decide to live in denial and allow your hair loss to destroy your self-confidence, leading to a reduction in quality of life, or embrace it, and learn to deal with it. Self-confidence is a choice, despite your loss of hair, wear your confidence every day.