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Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |17 | 18
PATIENT GUIDE TO SURGICAL & MEDICAL HAIR
RESTORATION
PAGE 5 |
The Psychology of Hair Loss |
| It really is all about loss, isn’t it?
Some would disagree and cry "vanity, it’s all vanity!" Let’s forget for a moment
about hair specifically, and talk about what happens when humans sustain a loss
of any kind. Well, we grieve. How we grieve depends upon myriad factors: our
personalities, racial and ethnic background, age and gender, our emotional state
at the moment, the culture of the day. Whether we’ve lost a spouse through death
or divorce, a limb from an accident, a breast because of cancer, or our
financial stability via job change or economic hard times, we will all
experience grief in our own way. This is not to say that all losses are
equivalent; obviously they are not. We all cope with these losses in different
ways, and society as a whole grants us "permission" for a certain degree and
measure of grief. After a certain, rather poorly defined period of time, we are
to get over it and come to some sort of acceptance of our fate. Our acceptance
may be minimal or grudging, our coping dysfunctional, but we move on. Some
people decide to not just accept their fate, but to take action, to utilize some
device or procedure to ameliorate or lessen the impact of their loss. Society as
a whole has prevailing attitudes regarding these choices, as do different
individuals. Certainly no one would belittle the cancer patient who chooses a
breast prosthesis or implant, or who wears a wig to disguise her hair loss from
chemotherapy. Neither would we deride those utilizing prosthetic limbs, or even
a man having a silicone device in place of a cancerous testicle that had been
removed. The motives of the burn patient having reconstructive surgery to repair
a ravaged face are understood by all. Well, you may say, these are functional
parts that have been lost, a bit different from the overarching vanity of
hairpieces or hair transplants. Is that really always the case? The
post-menopausal woman certainly doesn’t "need" the breast; her breast-feeding
days are long since finished. The man recovering from testicular cancer can do
fine with just one, in fact, he can survive with none. The burn patient will get
along just fine physically without the missing skin. The point is this:
regardless of the attitude of the culture of the moment, loss of any kind
affects people in different ways. Some individuals with hair loss do fine. They
may feel "bald is beautiful" and shave their heads. Actor Yul Brenner never grew
out his hair after shaving it for his role in "The King and I"; his entire
career became based on that "look". Others, however, feel the loss, or impending
loss, of their hair acutely. They may become depressed and anxious, their
self-esteem may plunge, and they may become more and more withdrawn from the
world. Their various attempts to disguise the balding may inhibit their desire
to run, swim, or perform any exercise, or to be outdoors where sweating or the
blowing of the wind might occur. They often begin to avoid intimate contact with
others. These can constitute major negative effects on physical and
psycho-emotional health. Is it then, "just vanity" to attempt to recover the
loss that many experience with balding? We think not. Men and women express many
different motives for desiring hair restoration. Perhaps they wish to look as
young as they feel, or they may see it as a gift to themselves for all the hard
work they have done. Some see it as a step up in the business world, or they may
see it as a requirement if they work in the entertainment industry. Women often
strongly identify their femininity with having long, thick hair. Some people
simply see their desire for attractive hair as integral to their overall sense
of wellbeing. Regardless of the motives, which may be complex and multifold, the
decisions need to be educated ones; often the desperate patient becomes easy
game for the unprincipled wig maker or surgeon who plays on their fears and
panic for immediate financial gain. This can lead to wasted money, or at worst,
cosmetically tragic consequences. |
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