How did your friends take you telling them you had alopecia?

My sister has alopecia and has had it since she was 6, she is now 19. I am trying to be the best older sister I can be by supporting her through this journey. She has yet to tell any of her friends of her condition because she fears they would look at her differently and only see her disease instead of who she is, despite the length of time she has had the friendships. I believe her trying to keep this a secret only adds to her stress, which worsens her condition. I was just curious (particularly for women / girls who have told their friends) how did your friends take the news ? Do you feel the relationships have changed since you told them ? Do you think your friends look at you differently ?

Any responses would be so great and helpful as I try and help my sister through this journey.

Thank you !

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Permalink Reply by Patricia Gerbaud on June 8, 2013 at 3:39pm

For me it was a very natural thing to tell people around me (family, friends, even neighbours if they asked why I was wearing a turban). My hair fell within less than a week so it was such a shock I had to talk about it. I'm a teacher (for adults) but didn't tell those people, some of them noticed and made a comment and I just explained what happened.
Nobody looked at me differently, I'm not only hair you know !!! and I'm sure your sister's not only hair either !
For the time being I haven't gone out of the house without a wig or a turban.

Permalink Reply by monica on June 9, 2013 at 6:54pm

It is hard for anyone at any age to confide personal stuff...but well it's hard to say now...because I am much older..I didn't really confide in many of my friends...only my best friend at the time..now my friends are few...only work colleages...and when ever the topic comes into conversation I just say the truth and they sometimes don't believe me..because of the wig that I wear.they say it looks real....some people know of the condition and some don't.. so sometimes I have to explain..but it comes easier now..it wasn't so when I was a teenager because of the fear of rejection...like you mentioned...they might think different about me...but if they are true friends they wouldn't care : )

Permalink Reply by Bre on June 19, 2013 at 10:13am

i've had alopecia since i was in grade 6 im now 16 i used to not want to tell any of my friends that i wore a wig because i was scared that they would look at me differently aswell. One day I asked one of my friends if they would look at me differently if i had no hair and wore a wig to my surprise they said no we would still treat you and look at you the same. So i told them, they said they didn't know why i didn't tell them sooner because it doesn't change who i am as a person it's just hair you're not any different just because we know now. It took me 3months to tell my boyfriend and when i finally did it felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders because i didn't have to hide it from him anymore, and seven months later we're still together, and he doesn't treat me any different,sure he had like a million questions at first but who wouldn't if they had no idea what it was.
I think if you know the person very well and you know they're not judgmental then tell them i'm sure they will still treat you the same and accept you for who you are.

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