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The Psychological Impact of Hair Loss

Summary & Participants

Some people just take hair loss as a fact of life but for a lot of people it's a source of anxiety and depression. If hair loss is troubling you, what can you do to overcome your emotional distress? If treatment fails, what can you do to prepare yourself for more hair loss? Join our experts as they discuss the psychological affects of hair loss and how it can be treated.

Medically Reviewed On: June 19, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Everyone deals with hair loss differently. Some people just take it as a fact of life, but for a lot of people it's a source of anxiety and depression. If hair loss is troubling you, what can you do to overcome your emotional distress, and if treatment fails, what can you do to prepare yourself for more hair loss?

Joining us to talk about the psychological side of hair loss are two experts. On my left is Dr. Peter Halperin, and next to Peteris Dr. Marc Avram. Both Peter and Marc are Assistant Professors in the Department of Dermatology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and New York Hospital in New York City, and Peter, Marc, thanks for joining us here today.

Let's start talking about the psychological impact of hair loss, and Peter, I'll start with you. What are some common reactions when people start losing their hair?

PETER HALPERIN, MD: It can be devastating, David. People hate losing their hair. It's so important to make a good first impression, what somebody looks like.And people make assumptions that they are losing something about their control of their life or looking older, things they really can't reverse when they start losing their hair.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Marc, as far as that goes, is that, like Peter just mentioned, devastating? So far, I have not experienced that, but sometimes I see people, and other people say, "Well, they don't look bad." They've lost their hair, but it seems like what Peter said, it's a lot more devastating than those of us on the outside looking in can imagine.

MARC AVRAM, MD: There's a great variety in how much it affects people. I think no one, given the choice, would want to lose their hair. Some people don't like it but accept it. A lot of people really don't like it, but don't really know exactly what they can do to stop it, and some people that we see are really devastated to the point where it impacts their actions and inactions in life. So it can seriously affect people to the point where it paralyzes them in what they do socially and professionally in their life.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Like their self-esteem and so forth?

MARC AVRAM, MD: Yes. It can be all different ages. It can be men and women, different backgrounds. It has really nothing to do with education, economic status. It really depends how it affects someone in terms of -- it may affect someone in a very devastating way professionally. Someone who's in front of the camera or someone who needs to be in the public begins to lose their hair. It could be someone who's on a college campus, is the only one in the frat house that's losing their hair and gets teased. So it can make a big impact on people.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: What different effects, if any, are there between men and women losing hair?

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