I think people need to put hair loss in perspective

[ThinningB420]

We all hate balding, especially those of us that are young. It is a difficult thing to deal with. However, there are so many worse things we could be struggling with in life.

Think about the kids you see with cancer that are dying AND are bald from chemo. Are you going to tell me your life is harder than theirs?

Or what about people who need heart or liver transplants through no fault of their own?

In both of these situations, these people tend to waste away before they die in extremely physically painful situations.

Or how about people born conjoined or "little" people. You think people treat you poorly or look down on you because you are balding. Think how these people are treated.

I think it's good for us to try and seek solutions for our problem. It's good to vent occasionally and be upset. However, after all is said and done, we need to keep our ailments in perspective. I'd rather see the people I described above helped by science before people suffering from baldness because their ailments are much more severe than balding.

[Maradona]

We all hate balding, especially those of us that are young. It is a difficult thing to deal with. However, there are so many worse things we could be struggling with in life.

Think about the kids you see with cancer that are dying AND are bald from chemo. Are you going to tell me your life is harder than theirs?

Or what about people who need heart or liver transplants through no fault of their own?

In both of these situations, these people tend to waste away before they die in extremely physically painful situations.

Or how about people born conjoined or "little" people. You think people treat you poorly or look down on you because you are balding. Think how these people are treated.

I think it's good for us to try and seek solutions for our problem. It's good to vent occasionally and be upset. However, after all is said and done, we need to keep our ailments in perspective. I'd rather see the people I described above helped by science before people suffering from baldness because their ailments are much more severe than balding.

That is true, I would happily live like a bald monster knowing that it was for a purpose like helping people with way worse diseases than baldness.

I suffer a couple of chronic injuries from football so I may understand a bit of what they go through but it's nothing compared to those things you mentioned.

Unfortunately me not caring about my hair won't change their status.
So I gotta put this thing as one priority but not to the point of scorpion like thinking, that's ****ed up.

RIP Scorpion.

[john2399]

You are correct, there are 100 percent worse things than hairloss but everyone has their own problems and just because people have worse problems than hairloss does not take away the pain we feel. I hate when people say(not you) that there are worst things in life. Yes, there are worse things but we still have to deal with the hairloss and just because theres worse in life are we suppose to feel happier? Its kind of messed up if you think of it because we actually feel happy when we see someone else deal with something worse because we can say atleast i don't have to deal with that.

[ThinningB420]

I agree that it doesn't take away the pain and I don't think we should feel happy someone has it worse. I just think when we're really feeling down we should realize how tough it must be for someone in worse situations to persevere and maybe it can motivate us to not let balding hurt us so much. It's definitely easier said than done, and I struggle with it myself. My hair is worse than most of the guys on this site, but I have to tell myself to push on.

I think it's our nature to become preoccupied with our troubles and we only realize how much we exaggerate them when big things affect people around us. I think humans need to learn to balance our preoccupations with ourselves with helping those in serious need around us. I'm sure the world would be a lot better for it.

[DepressedByHairLoss]

I think the reason that a lot of us let our depression over hair loss consume us and do not think about others who supposedly have it worse is because we don't see very many kids with cancer, conjoined twins, little people, etc. Yet when we get out every day, we see loads of people with full heads of hair, and people walking around all happy with their lives, while a lot of us are miserable due to hair loss. In today's society which places an emphasis on good outer looks more than any other, we are bombarded with images of people who look great and the attributes that make them look great. We see it every day, whether it is in movie advertisements, music videos, or even advertisements for dating websites (I see those match.com ads all the time). And in almost every one of these instances, the good-looking people have full heads of hair. Sure, they often have other qualities like a muscular body, but those other qualities can be achieved through hard work. Unfortunately, a full head of hair cannot be achieved and that's what really frustrates me because I would work so arduously, spend loads of money, and literally walk to end of the earth to get my full head of hair back.

ThinningB420, you're right about us having to move on. That's exactly what I did today. I had a terrible weekend (mainly due to my preoccupation with hair loss) and after work I was just tempted to come home, close the windows and shades, and lie there in my room. But I forced myself to go to the gym and actually had a really good workout. I still feel the pain of hair loss (and have felt it for almost 2 years now) without a doubt, but I'm still glad that I forced myself to go to the gym.

[NotBelievingIt]

"Move On" doesn't really work - you will never be able to just put hair loss aside. Its always (not) there.

You have to accept the new you as well as make yourself understand that unless it looks bad nobody else cares or even likely notices beyond a quick glance.

"looks bad" may sound subjective, but I think we can all agree on what looks bad and its THAT that you want to avoid.

[moore]

Comparing illness from different people just brings the effort off topic.
Caring less about hair loss won't make anybody feel better, and actually I think some amazing cures were found looking for something else. So yes, baldness is not probably going to kill anybody but still, in 21th century, with the technology we have, is time to study it in deep, understand it, and defeat it.

[gmonasco]

Or how about people born conjoined or "little" people. You think people treat you poorly or look down on you because you are balding. Think how these people are treated.

It's very much human nature that we feel much more keenly about the loss of something we once had than the absence of something we never had. Conjoined twins and little people certainly have their own issues and difficulties to deal with in life, but they've also never known any other reality.

[john2399]

It's very much human nature that we feel much more keenly about the loss of something we once had than the absence of something we never had. Conjoined twins and little people certainly have their own issues and difficulties to deal with in life, but they've also never known any other reality.

Great point.

[lalala]

I'm pretty sure Scorpion killed himself because of hair loss, so maybe you should think twice before telling me to put this "in perspective". **** perspective. I want a NW1. I want it so ****ing bad I'll turn gay for any decent HT doctor out there. I want it so bad I'll donate my sperm to someone's wife so they can have genetically superior children. I want it so bad I'll become a male prostitute just to raise the money. I WANT IT SO BAD I AM WILLING TO SELL MY SOUL FOR IT! IF THE DEVIL COMES TO ME ONE DAY, THEN SO HELP ME GOD I WILL GIVE MY SOUL FOR A NW1!!!!!

I'm saying this in memory of Scorpion...

NW1 OR DIE TRYING! NW1 OR DIE AT NW3!

Amen.

Surprised to hear you say that your sperm would create genetically superior children. You of all people should know that with your MBP gene you are a cancer to the human gene pool.

[boourns]

I'm not trying to be insensitive but I feel that when you have an actual serious debilitating disease you are almost put in a different category of people. When you have noticeable hair loss you're still considered like everyone else just not as ideal. You're still expected to try to live life like everyone else but you're at a disadvantage in a way. There's not that much sympathy for you. Feels that way anyway. Possibly it's all in my head.

If you were battling serious cancer or if you were missing your legs no one would expect you to go out and get a girlfriend or be out and about living life to the fullest. I don't know. Sounds lame but I just feel that way sometimes.

[ThinningB420]

That's because those things are serious and physically affect your body's ability to function significantly. Hair loss does not physically prevent your body from functioning. It's a cosmetic issue that affects many psychologically. It is lame for people to feel sorry for themselves because of hair loss. We can all dislike it and try to fix it but we shouldn't let hair loss ruin our lives.

[BGP]

You know, before I experienced MPB, I never even noticed bald people. It's so common it felt like that person who's walking around as NW6 or 7 was simply always like that. Almost like they had just been made that way.

But when it's you and you see the progression...it's an entirely different world.

Also, yes there are much worse diseases than MPB, in fact I can think of things that could be potentially worse than cancer or other terminal illnesses. Ever head of Fatal Familial Insomnia? Google it.

Still, not to belittle those who have it worse off, but MPB is the central battle of my life right now, so I don't really spend too much time caring about what else others have to go through. That being said, if I was diagnosed with some terminal illness tomorrow, my thought pattern would be "I would trade away all my hair forever to survive this terminal illness".

It all depends on where the battle is for you.

[ThinningB420]

BGP, you just summed up the problem well. IMO it shouldn't take something worse to make us realize the significance, or lack thereof, of balding. We need to be levelheaded and rational. Look at the movie Shallow Hal. Jason Alexander's character always found flaws in women. He even stopped dating this hot girl because her second toe was longer than her big toe. Yeah it's a movie but I has a valid point. We overemphasize things that in reality are not as important as we make them out to be. Hair loss is a prime example.

[PayDay]

BGP, you just summed up the problem well. IMO it shouldn't take something worse to make us realize the significance, or lack thereof, of balding. We need to be levelheaded and rational. Look at the movie Shallow Hal. Jason Alexander's character always found flaws in women. He even stopped dating this hot girl because her second toe was longer than her big toe. Yeah it's a movie but I has a valid point. We overemphasize things that in reality are not as important as we make them out to be. Hair loss is a prime example.

I understand the depression caused by hair loss very well, but being positive and thanking my blessings is what has gotten me through all of this. It’s not easy, but there are far worse things to deal with in life.