Imogen

Imogen’s alopecia began at the age of 7. Her mum found some bald patches on her scalp and the rest of her hair fell out within two weeks. Imogen doesn’t remember much about what was going on at this time, although she says that her first episode of alopecia was caused by the stress of an argument she had with a close friend. Imogen has had periods of regrowth, such as when she was 10, but found that patches of alopecia kept returning. 

Imogen was offered steroid treatments by her doctors but she decided not to take them because of low success rates. She feels that talking to someone else who has alopecia can sometimes be more helpful that repeatedly going to the doctors. Imogen currently uses aloe vera products which she feels have helped her hair regrow. She has patches of regrowth but chooses to shave all her scalp hair off. This is because she finds it easier to wear wigs than to worry about others seeing the bald patches, especially when it’s windy outside. She buys her hair pieces privately as she thinks that NHS wigs are lower quality and she’s concerned by a rumour that these are made from animal hair.
 
Imogen was bullied by other students at her secondary school. It began with some of the pupils making comments about her having a high hairline and the bullying became violent. Imogen thinks that most people didn’t know “how to deal with me because they thought I was different”, even though hair loss was the only change. Imogen suffered from depression and anxiety partly to do with body image and self-esteem issues. She says that doctors offered her medication for depression but she didn’t want to go down that route. She took some time off school and says that the period really affected her friendships and the people around her. She made the decision to move schools in Year 10 and found that both the pupils and teachers there were much more supportive. 

Although some of her experiences have been very difficult, Imogen feels that these have helped mould her into a more positive and non-judgmental person. Imogen’s mum and nan have been very supportive throughout. However, she says that most of her dad’s side of the family don’t acknowledge the fact that she has alopecia, even though they have seen her bald. Imogen wants to help other people with alopecia and she plans to start her own YouTube channel for people about dealing with hair loss to share her own past struggles and give advice to those suffering from depression and anxiety. She also recently started modelling and hopes this will increase the number of confident images of people with alopecia. Imogen’s advice to doctors and teachers is to provide more emotional support for young people with alopecia.