Living With Alopecia: My Hair Was Falling Out
Key takeaways:
Lauren Brady has had to navigate most of her life with an alopecia diagnosis.
While more people have become aware of the hair loss condition, Lauren says many people still don’t have all the facts.
She’s passionate about providing resources and support.
Twenty years ago, when Lauren Brady was in high school and dealing with alopecia, her friends had never heard of it.
That’s how long it’s been since she learned she has alopecia areata, a condition that makes her hair fall out.
After alopecia appeared in headlines because of an incident at the 2022 Oscars, Lauren noticed an increase in people wanting to learn more about the condition.
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The term “alopecia” broadly refers to hair loss. Alopecia areata is a common disorder that affects 1 in 500 to 1 in 1,000 people across the country. It affects Hollywood stars, and it affects Lauren and her three sisters.
“Our big message is just, ‘Be kind,’” says Lauren, who’s now 37 and lives in Tampa, Florida. “If people were a little kinder, you’d stop and think before you open your mouth.”
Struggle in different forms
Alopecia is an autoimmune disorder. Both genetics and environmental factors, such as stress, can trigger it. Up to 25% of people with alopecia have a family member with it.
Despite their mother having thick hair, Lauren and her three sisters have alopecia. Each of them has dealt with it in different ways.
Most people with alopecia have circular patches of hair loss or lose all their hair. But Lauren’s hair loss experience has been a slow thinning in spots. She compares this experience to losing hair in the shower, except the follicles are no longer growing hair.
Since she didn’t do much to cover up her hair loss, she was the subject of bullying in high school.
“I did get made fun of in high school, for sure,” she says.
Sometimes this bullying was from her own friends who didn’t understand what she was going through.
Once Lauren moved on to college, she began using hair follicle spray. At the time, there weren’t a lot of products available, and she had problems with the colored spray she used. It got everywhere and, whenever she touched her hair, her fingerprints would leave traces of the dark color.
In 2007, she bought her first wig. She’s also tried medication, shaving her head, and going with and without head coverings.
“It’s been an evolution,” she says.
The emotional toll of alopecia
For Lauren, alopecia takes more of an emotional toll than a physical one.
“I have a lot of self-confidence issues,” she says. “Looking in a mirror, I’ll be, like, ‘The wig looks like a wig today.’”
“Some days, I’m, like, ‘This looks stupid. It looks like I have a wig on.’ And I’ll be super upset, and then it digs deeper down.”
No sugarcoating hair loss
Lauren and her sisters spent a lot of time hiding their alopecia from people.
“A lot of people couldn’t believe or never knew what I was going through,” she says.
Lauren’s perspective changed after learning about Kayla Martell, a contestant in the 2011 Miss America pageant. Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton posted about her having alopecia and being in the pageant.
That inspired Lauren and her sister Caitlin to share stories about their struggles with alopecia that went beyond physical aspects. After getting positive responses, the sisters uploaded a video to inspire others to share their stories. At the end of the video, Lauren even took her wig off for a public audience for the first time. They had a viewing party with family and friends, and there was local press about it.
That led to the creation of the sisters’ nonprofit, the This Is Me Foundation. Through their nonprofit, they are vocal about their experiences with alopecia. They’ve also created scholarships for people facing alopecia and other challenges.
“We’re really big on sharing the ups and downs, because it’s natural,” Lauren says. “And it is for any adversity you’re going through.”
Being a resource for others
The biggest issue that people reach out to Lauren about is not knowing where to find resources.“Just because you’re not physically ill, [it] doesn’t mean it’s not something that is important and is very hard to deal with,” she says.
Lauren likes to connect with people who need support. She knows it’s important for people to hear that she has good and bad days, too.
She still faces difficult days sometimes but knows the value in feeling connected.
“I’m huge on mental health awareness,” she says. “I deal with my own anxiety. A lot has to do with my hair. So it’s just making sure people feel heard and understood.”
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