'We need to talk about Alopecia'

This Sunday marks two years of being bald. Two crazy, chaotic, flip-your-life-upside-down years since I was forced to shave my head and put it out there for the big scary world to see.

I was diagnosed with Alopecia in 2014 at the age of 23. It was extremely sudden and I lost half the hair on my head within a week. I’d hidden it from most people for about six weeks, but it became so bad that on September 10, I shaved it. That, followed by the first few days of seeing people for the first time, was hands down the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through.

The reason I’m telling you this is because it is Alopecia Awareness Month. While I have well and truly come to terms with my lack of hair, it seems many cannot. 

This so desperately needs to change.

It was summer, in Perth, and she had this god-awful wig. It was hot and she hated it, so she never wore it. As a 19-year-old whose hair was her ‘thing’ it absolutely shocked me. I remember going to the shops and the beach, and thinking everyone was staring and that it was causing a scene. Looking back I can see it was just my insecurities and knowing (well, thinking) at the time I could never do that.

Fast-forward six years and as they say, the rest is history.