How to manage a bad day with alopecia
Many of us who have been diagnosed with alopecia areata can attest to the fact that depressive episodes or a diagnosis of depression can be quite common as we manage the emotions alopecia areata can bring up.
Although there’s an increasing amount of research and information around mental health in general, there isn’t a great deal of research on the psychological problems created by hair loss. The evidence we do have suggests that hair loss can cause a wide variety of psychosocial consequences. Some of the evidence shows that such hair loss can be psychologically damaging.
Hair loss can cause emotional suffering, decreased self-esteem, body image and confidence. This can lead to problems in a persona’s personal, social, and work life.
There’s also evidence that people with hair loss are more susceptible to the development of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, social phobia, or paranoid disorders.
For the last 4 years, AAAF has been working on supporting studies that analyse if people with alopecia areata avoid doing sport, as well as the strategies to encourage people to do more sport. You can read more on this here. (insert a link to a blog post on our recent study)
It is very important that you make your mental health and self-care a priority in your journey with alopecia.
We recently asked our online community for their favorite things to do when they aren’t feeling good about their alopecia areata and we got some AMAZING answers, shared in this video.
Would you like to be a part of these conversations? Make sure you are in our Facebook groups!
| Sydney | https://www.facebook.com/groups/253267248063760/ |
| Melbourne | https://www.facebook.com/groups/324140794330058/ |
| Adelaide | https://www.facebook.com/groups/191926040992952/ |
| Brisbane | https://www.facebook.com/groups/360044287470628/ |
| Perth | https://www.facebook.com/groups/482588098533568/ |
| ACT | https://www.facebook.com/groups/1386723811590647/ |
| TAS | https://www.facebook.com/groups/355292571629842/ |
| Men’s Alopecia Support Group – Australia Wide | https://www.facebook.com/groups/158070451460216/ |
| Teen Alopecia Support Group – Age 13-23, Australia Wide | https://www.facebook.com/groups/AlopeciaTeenSupportAustralia/ |
Download support brochures here https://aaaf.org.au/support-material/
If you need help or support immediately, we recommend reaching out to the following organisations.
