Phalacrophobia (fear Of Baldness): Symptoms, Causes And Treatments
We are in a world where physical appearance is constantly judged by others. The clothes we wear, our weight, volume and physical shape and even the presence or absence of hair are elements considered of great importance in interpersonal and even work relationships, leading to the creation of complexes if the ideal of beauty or even in some cases to the suffering of different mental illnesses such as anorexia and bulimia. There are also some phobias linked to aspects of our physique.
One of them is phalacrophobia which we will talk about throughout this article, and which is related to an intense fear of baldness.
We understand as phalacrophobia the existence of an exaggerated and excessive fear of baldness fear that generates a very high level of anxiety upon exposure to stimuli referred to or related to said condition.
We are facing a specific type of phobia referring to elements related to physical appearance. This implies the existence of a totally irrational and uncontrollable fear of a specific stimulus, such that the symptoms are severe enough to constitute an anxiety disorder.
The fact of exposing oneself or even imagining exposing oneself to said stimulus generates such anxiety in the patient that it can trigger physiological symptoms such as tachycardia, hyper intonation, tremors, dizziness and even anxiety attacks. This causes the subject to actively avoid exposure to the stimulus in question, or if they must be exposed to it, they experience a high level of tension and discomfort.
In phalacrophobia, the fear in question may be both to the fact that the subject himself goes bald and to the possibility of encountering bald subjects Thus, the subject may be in tension when faced with social interaction with people with baldness, avoiding it. The presence of comments regarding hair loss or even advertising regarding it can also generate great anxiety and be actively avoided.
this fear It is often associated with men, but the truth is that it is also suffered by many women It must be taken into account in this sense that hair loss in men is socially expected, while it is not so common in women. This expectation may have an effect on the probability of suffering from phalacrophobia.
This phobia can have severe repercussions on the patient’s life and even become an aspect with which the subject becomes obsessed. It is not surprising that the fear of going bald leads to frequent checking routines, such as observing the amount of hair lost when combing
In extreme cases, the existence of perceptual alterations has been observed (in a similar way to what occurs in anorexia), considering the subject to be losing hair or to have spots on the scalp despite keeping it perfectly healthy.
Causes of this phobia
The origin of both this and other phobias is an element about which there are a large number of hypotheses, considering that its genesis is due to the combination of multiple factors.
In the case at hand, One of the possible explanations for this phobia is conditioning Some of the people who suffer from phalacrophobia have suffered some type of traumatic experience throughout their childhood that was once associated with baldness. For example, having received abuse or mistreatment by someone with alopecia, or having observed the death of an elderly person or close loved one with this characteristic.
In these cases, it is possible that the subject who will suffer from the phobia associates the fact of being abused or facing death with baldness, generating a high level of anxiety when exposed to this fact.
Another possibility is found in the fact that we highlighted in the introduction: the physical aspect. Although in recent times some people consider that baldness can represent manhood, strength and personality, the truth is that baldness sIt has been culturally associated with physical decline and has been removed from the canon of beauty prevailing in society. This could generate a learned fear of not being considered attractive and of being socially rejected.
Linked to the previous two peppers, we must comment that hair loss has traditionally been considered as something typical of aging, implying the loss of youth and the abilities typical of this era and entering a stage of losses and an approach to death.
Treatment
Treatment of this phobia will vary depending on the stimuli in question that generate anxiety
Exposure to the phobic stimulus and systematic desensitization are some of the most effective techniques in the treatment of phobias, being based on the subject’s approach to the phobic stimuli. First, a hierarchy will be developed between patient and professional in order to determine some of the main situations that generate anxiety, to organize them according to the anxiety they generate.
After this, the patient will be exposed to the feared situations, starting with situations that generate medium levels of anxiety to be exposed to them until in at least two consecutive trials the level of anxiety decreases until it becomes imperceptible. After that, you can move on to the next item in the hierarchy.
Another treatment to consider is cognitive restructuring, very necessary in order to modify the dysfunctional beliefs that may be behind the emergence or maintenance of the phobia. Techniques such as decatastrophication can also be used to reduce the importance of the possibility of going bald.
One last element that we can take into account is the possibility of using relaxation techniques in order to reduce the level of anxiety.
