Hair Loss and Baldness

•   Have you experienced a decrease in your self-esteem since noticing your hair loss?
  
•   Do you experience feelings of depression (or symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, eating too much or too little, sleeping too much or too little, and loss of interest in things you used to enjoy) related to losing your hair?
  
•   Do you socialize less than you used to?
  
•   Do you worry that your hair loss is all that others notice about you?
  
•   Do you feel unattractive?
  
•   Do you worry about your hair loss often enough that it interferes with other areas of your life?

•  Identify Your Thoughts and Feelings: Write down your negative thoughts about hair loss and baldness so you can keep track of them.
  
  
•  Examine the Evidence: Instead of assuming that a negative thought is true, examine the actual evidence for it. For example, if you think all bald people are unattractive, ask several people if they have ever been attracted to a bald person.
  
  
•  The Double Standard: Instead of harshly telling yourself to "just get over it," talk to yourself in the same compassionate way you would talk to a friend who is upset about his or her hair loss.
  
  
•  The Experimental Technique: Do an experiment to test the validity of your negative thoughts about hair loss. If you think it is impossible for a balding person to get a date, approach several people who seem interested in you and ask them to a movie, coffee, or lunch.
  
  
•  Thinking in Shades of Gray: Rather than thinking it's "all or nothing," evaluate things on a scale of 1-100. For example, just because you aren't the most attractive person in the world, doesn't make you the least attractive one either. Find yourself in the middle ground rather than at the extremes.
  
  
•  The Survey Method: Ask people questions to find out whether your thoughts and attitudes about hair loss and baldness are realistic. For example, if you believe all balding people are miserable, talk to people who are losing their hair. Test your assumption by asking them how they are feeling and how their lives are going.
  
  
•  Define Terms: When you label yourself "ugly" or "inferior" or "a loser," ask yourself the definition of these terms. You may find that you used such labels on yourself automatically, without thinking about what they really mean. In fact, you may find that you don't at all match some of the labels you've given yourself.
  
  
•  The Semantic Method: Substitute language that is less emotionally loaded. Instead of saying, "I shouldn't have to lose my hair; it's totally unfair," say "I would have preferred not to lose my hair, but since I have, what can I do to feel better about it?"
  
  
•  Re-attribution: Instead of automatically assuming that you are to blame for a problem, think about the many factors that may have contributed to it. Some people may believe that they have lost their hair because they are destined to be second rate. But consider that baldness is controlled genetically, like the color of your eyes. Would you call yourself a loser because your eyes were blue instead of brown?
  
  
•  Cost Benefit Analysis: List the advantages and disadvantages of negative feelings about baldness, thinking negatively about baldness, or changing the way you live because you are losing your hair. What do you gain from seeing your hair loss negatively? What might you have to gain from a more positive outlook?

•   Counseling can help you to clarify your attitudes toward hair loss and baldness.
  
•   Counseling can help you understand how your life has been affected by your hair loss.
  
•   Counseling can help you to create strategies for feeling better about your hair loss and yourself.
  
•   Counseling can help you to explore your definitions and attitudes toward attractiveness and self-image.
  
•   Counseling can help you to become less isolated and start socializing.
  
•   Counseling can provide support during difficult periods of adjustment.

Source: The University of Cincinnati Psychological Services Center, Evening Clinic, and the Division of Student Affairs and Human Resources
© 1997-2001 Psychological Services Center