Hair plays a significant role in our life.
Another person's scalp hair is one of the first characteristics
we notice upon meeting. Our own hair is one of the first
and last things we attend to before a meeting or a social
engagement. Hair loss disorders, especially when severe,
often profoundly affects the lives of those afflicted.
Severe hair loss
of the scalp evokes not only
hair cosmetic concerns but may also evoke feelings of
vulnerability (nakedness), loss of self-esteem, alterations
in self-image, and, perhaps, even self-identity. Education
and severe
hair loss help is available.
In 1992, researchers at Old Dominion University in Norfolk,
Virginia, surveyed 145 men, and found that 84 percent of
the bald men were preoccupied with their loss. They described
themselves as filled with self-esteem issues, helplessness,
and envy of men with full heads of hair. Single bald men
and woman who had begun
losing hair in their early twenties were more likely
to suffer from extremely low self-esteem.
While stressful, balding isn't the end of the world.
Although the men reported glancing in the mirror constantly
and wearing hats even in warm weather, they manage to make
it through their daily lives without much problem. For some
it even sparked self-improvement tactics like fiddling with
new hair styles, working out more, and dressing better.
Survey result is
Stereotypes associated with baldness are not flattering.
A research back in 1971(2) had been conducted to investigate
how one person was perceived by others can be influenced
by quantity of scalp hair (regular, balding, and bald) as
well as color, length, and quality of scalp hair. Pictures
of the same person were presented to 60 judges. Differences
in appearances of this person (i.e., experimental conditions
of regular, balding, and bald) were manipulated through
modifications made by a commercial artist. The results revealed
that the person with a regular quantity of hair was rated
as most handsome, virile, strong, active, and sharp. The
person with a balding head of hair was rated as least potent,
weak, dull, and inactive, and the person with a bald head
of hair was rated as most unkind, bad, and ugly.
Many other studies also show employment discrimination
based on a person's appearance.
Motivation to avoid baldness is not confined to this
century. In 1150 BC
hair
loss help consisted of Egyptian men smearing their scalps
with fats from ibex, lions, crocodiles, serpents, geese,
and hippopotamuses. In modern society, this aversion is
readily evident from the many available remedies suggesting
help such as creams, hormones, vitamins, hair pieces, wigs,
scalp reduction and hair transplants. A government report
in 1983 reveals that over the past 9 years the FDA has overseen
the investigation of ingredients in about 300,000 products
claimed to help hair re-grow, none of them has any medical
benefit, of course!
