Well anyways, I am new to the whole hair loss thing. I just got alopecia areata in March of this year. I never knew that you could suffer hair loss as a result of nature. I always just thought that major illness caused hair loss but I guess Mother Nature taught me something that I have never known before. It all started when I was getting my haircut (Get them usually every 1-2 months) in March. I remember all was good until my hair stylist told me something that would change my world and change my individual from that point on. At first my hair stylist didn't want to inform me about what she was seeing but then I've told her that I needed to know what’s going on. "There is a bald spot, I think you are losing your hair". Wow I was shocked. So shocked that I didn’t pay attention to her cutting my hair. I felt like my spirit was at float. Like time froze for that period of time. It was pretty shattering for me. The bald spot was small at the time, only measuring just one centimetre on the right side behind my head. As being Native American, Hair is very important in my culture. My hair is pretty thick and still is (besides the spot baldness). Anyways I just remember afterwards calling my parents in a panic attack. I told them that I am losing my hair. I do say I did get over reactive about it. Being male or female, it doesn’t matter what your age/sex/ethnic culture is. Being a human being in general, Hair is something that depicts your self-esteem and more. Right after my haircut I went straight to the doctors office and seen my doctor. He examined the loss of hair and told me that I developed alopecia areata. Autoimmune disease that your own immune system attacks your hair follicles (You know the diagnosis). I asked him how could I develop this condition? With the entire question's I asked, there wasn't really a clear answer on how you develop it. He just told me that alopecia doesn’t discriminate. It affects all people equally.

Yes I was pretty stressed at that time of my life. I was working in the most stressful job of being a Casino dealer (8 Months), the lost of my best friend (2 days from Christmas). I was stressed! Any who, I did not know what the future was in store for me. Before my hair loss, I was living a happy and good life. I had allot of friends, I was a family guy and a person who helped others with life’s problems. Now the tables have turned, more against me. I had my own problems, the person who I thought I was, was non-existence anymore (Loss of self). I continued to work for 2 more months. My condition started to become worse. I wasn't able to color my bald spots in anymore (with eye liner); I obtained another one on the left side, bigger then my right one. The bald spots were too big to "work with it" anymore. I needed to quit (being the best dealer, worker). I never wanted to but being in a place of appearance and working with the public. I was not spiritually strong for that so I quitted. When I say I could no longer "work with it" I tried so hard by researching my options. I’m a fighter & I will do anything in my power to overcome this condition like going through 3 stylists that tried so hard to work with it (tattoo haircuts, short and very short haircuts, trying to find a tattoo artist for hair). In the end I was pissed at Mother Nature and genes, Nature won the battle for now. After trying to work with it, I gave up. I gave up on myself, my family, and my friends. I just basically fell into the deepest hole ever and never got out of it for 3 months! I cut myself from the world because I felt to ashamed to see myself in the world. I never felt depression before until it blasted me like a bullet. Just the thoughts of me being young. The thought of never will I get married, find true love and so on. My confidence and my morality were shot. Even through depression is bad in it's self. Depression can also be a good thing. A good thing because during that time, It can make you realize the bad things about "Your old self (no-ones perfect)" that you wouldn’t take into consideration before. It makes you notice how you were living your life. It was a time to reflect on how am I going to change for the better? How am I now going to treat people differently from before. How will this experience make me better off in the long-term? After going through my depression I've made the decision that I'm going to keep on living.

After 3 months of depression, I've lost most of my friends by then. I didn't really matter to me. It makes you see who really are your friends and who’s fake. After depression, I had my family still their waiting for me on the other side. My sister got me back upon my feet again and helped me integrate into society again. It was my beginning journey of acceptance of my condition that showed me who I really am inside. My alopecia friends, I know that not everyone can relate to my story but I know someone will feel what I’ve been through emotionally, physically and spiritually. My advice for you is not to worry about confidants on how you look in appearance but rather be confident in your Behaviour and how you present yourself to others. That is what really show's for an individual. I've learned so far that you’re never out of the woods, so you might as will set up camp and wait for hope to save us. Mother nature can't win every time. It's my belief that the future will hold great potential for A.A. (stem cell hair transplant, human genome project to figure out more about A.A.) Thanks for reading; this was very stress relieving for me, lol. God bless.