My Husband has Depression from losing his hair

[LaraCroft]

Hi Everyone,

I`m hoping some of you can provide some practical advice which will enable me to help my husband come to terms with his hair loss. I`m really concerned about my husbands health as he is having bouts of anxiety and has very low self esteem. Its beginning to cause problems with our social life and family. I really want to help him the best way I can. He is refusing to see our family doctor because he does not think he has depression. He mentioned hair transplants which is how I found this site, truth is we have very little spare money, what I can save goes on the children. We could never afford the costs involved.

I`ve checked into Finasteride which seems to be the best available treatment although the possible sides such as depression are worrying, I don't want to create more problems.

If anyone has been in a similar situation I`d really like to hear from you. Any help I`d appreciate as I don't quite know how to deal with this.

Thank you.

 

[Prohairclinic]

Hi Lara,there is hope, in fact the chances of getting a long term solution are good.
Nowadays we have a less invasive hair restoration technique : FUE hair restoration.This procedure is able to provide extremely natural results without creating immense trauma to the scalp.
Secondly there is Micro hair pigmentation. This is a solution where micro dots are placed into the upper level of the skin. This dots mimic hair stubbles and give the illusion of more hair.
Prohairclinic has been offering FUE hair restoration since 2004, full time.Micro hair pigmentation has become very popular lately. We are using the Tricopigmentation version developed by Beauty Medical. This method is very well accepted by many surgeons and in my opinion offers the best possible micro hair pigmentation results.
Last but not least we have also provided a natural alternative to finasteride : Keratene Retard. We have been using this supplement for about 3 years now and we are absolutely convinced it works well for most. The great part is that it does not come with the side effect that are know to Finasteride.

 

[Westcoaster]

Lara Croft you're doing the right thing researching to look for answers. Hair loss can and does cause depression as men see it as a sign of getting old and losing their attractiveness. You're probably doing this already as you seem very loving towards your husband, give him reassurance, tell him you love him, let him know your attracted to him. He may have other issues that already existed and they have been brought to light with his hair loss.
Hair transplants can be expensive, he may need more than one, the result might not meet his expectations leaving him more depressed. I would try to get him to seek some help for the depression before contemplating any hair loss treatments as you don't want to make him worse.
Out of interest how old is he?
Best of luck to you.

 

[bullitnut]

Welcome to the forum Lara, you seem like a very good supportive partner and its awesome that you are researching options and trying to help your husband. There are options out there i agree, but to me the most important thing would be to initially treat his depression, i say this as if hes generally feeling very depressed then he would likely not be in the best state of mind to make important life changing decisions. I'm worried that he could end up rushing into things and going to a non reputable clinic and this could make his depression a million times worse trust me.
Also The chances of him being 100% happy anyway after any type of procedure are slim in the first place if he is in a bad place mentally at the minute. I would urge you to seek some help for his depression before going down any type of hair restoration route.
That being said if nothing else whilst hes hopefully getting better it will give you time to research these procedures properly and trust me there are some good options these days and some fantastic doctors creating excellent natural looking hairlines.
Just so you know too hair transplants are expensive yes, but the media grossly exagerates the prices of them and they can be pretty affordable. I do hope your husband gets the help he needs as i know first hand where he is right now. There is hope, he will get better and he will gain back his confidence and the main reason is the fact he has a loving supportive partner like yourself.
Take some time and have a good read of the forum....youve come to the right place.
take care BN

 

[garageland]

Some excellent advice already here. I would try to get to the issue of what is causing his anxiety and depression I am sure it is not just hair related I speak from personal experience like Bullitnut. I would encourage him to talk about it to you and open up which is difficult for men to do. I had depression brought on by hair loss in my twenties a had bad surgery which left me feeling so much worse but I never admitted to anyone I was depressed. Admitting this is the hardest part and this is where talking about it will help your support will be so important for him. As a result you spiral down and down and focusing on your hair being the one problem that if you could just fix while the rest of your world falls apart without you realizing.

Trying to focus on positives will help, hair transplants might work and make him feel better but if money is tight he will likely feel bad about the money he has spent on him and if it doesn't work out to his expectations then it could be a disaster.

Finasteride does work in the majority of men in keeping their hair a very small percentage of those get some significant thickening of their hair. Some will get side effects if your husband gets those then that will only worsen his anxiety.

If he won't open up to you is there someone else that can talk with him? A friend or relative that can contact him and try to get him to talk. The first step is getting him to admit he would like help and not seeing that as a weakness.

 

[Pete from Farjo]

Really good advice from all above. As has been said, if money is tight and considering that one transplant is rarely enough, treating the underlying problem could well be the best course of action.

In my opinion, confidence is the key thing. If that can be restored then hair loss can be put into perspective compared to the numerous, infinitely more devastating things that fate can deal to us. I have known people who have been broken by hair loss, and equally I've a couple of bald friends who, due to their positive outlook and inner self-confidence, don't let it bother them one bit.

I would urge that you do all you can to persuade your husband to make an appointment with your doctor. No one needs to feel embarrassed any more about depression, and there are excellent, proven treatments available such as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) which will tackle specific issues head on. If you feel you can, I'd also suggest letting your husband read this thread to see that his situation is not hopeless.

I wish you all the best.

 

[LaraCroft]

Thank you so much for the responses to my my concerns, I'm overwhelmed with them. I'm slowly persuading my husband to visit the doctor with myself, he does not like going to the doctors for any reason. Always been stubborn that way.
I have made the doctor aware of our situation hoping he can help him understand what's happening and offer some good advice.
Again thank you guys for the advice.