According to current polls, Italian teenagers – guys in particular – seem to be increasingly more affected by Alopecia – which is hair loss. This condition can be the consequence of several interconnected factors such as hormonal and physiological causes, but also stress, depression and the like.
Recently, in fact, guys aged between 12 and 20 and girls of different ages have become increasingly more likely to be affected by alopecia at a very young age.
What are the causes?
At times, the experts talk about Androgenetic Alopecia suggesting that genetic factors inherited by one’s parents may have a fundamental role. At other times, however, factors such as stress, worries, smoke, alcohol, and bad eating habits may cause the outbreak of hair loss at an early age.
For a young man or woman, hair loss is a truly traumatic event, and is very difficult to process. The self-image, which is incredibly important for a teenager, is completely twisted.
For women, thick and plentiful growing hair, suddenly or gradually turn into thin and exhausted one – often including patches of hair loss – which is the so-called Alopecia Areata. When the first evident symptoms of alopecia appear, it is necessary to intervene promptly. A timely intervention is crucial in order to prevent hair loss from causing negative outcomes on one’s social life.
Alopecia, in fact, can cause relational problems, stress, discomfort, depression, insecurity, and anxiety. Since the self-image becomes negative, and one starts to being perceived by one’s peer as different, experiencing awkwardness is often unavoidable.
Hair thinning, inevitably, transforms the mental image that each of us have of our own body. The psychological consequences are truly important and should not be underestimated. We perceive ourselves as old and unattractive. This causes a deep sense of insecurity in one’s social, academic, and professional life.
Asking an expert for advice and help is the very first step one should take. Suitable medical controls and analyses will help teenagers and their parents to pinpoint the causes that generated the hair loss and, thereby, to undertake a valid therapeutic approach – which may include both pharmacologic techniques and other innovative, ground-breaking methods.