Baldness Due To Habitual Stress. Masked Depression And Alopecia

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

As I have already written more than once, psychosomatics is, in fact, very multifaceted. Choosing the same disorder or disease, we can consider it from completely different angles, both from the point of view of situational stress factor, hormonal imbalance, constitutional manifestation, neurotic disorder, psychological trauma, secondary benefit, and from the point of view of somatized depression, etc. I want to devote this note to the description of several cases when the underlying disease is a consequence of depression. And first, I will very briefly summarize the customer stories, and then I will draw a line that unites these cases. However, I want to note right away that these conclusions cannot be applied to all people suffering from alopecia, because in the next note, revealing the theoretical foundations of the psychosomatics of baldness, on the contrary, I will describe stories that differ precisely in etiology (medical reason and, accordingly, psychological).

Case 1. The client, 24 - 27 years old, according to a combination of factors: half-orphan (father died, mother is sick and indifferent to her daughter), gets married and moves to her husband's house with his parents, during pregnancy, relations develop normally. The first stress is an unscheduled caesarean section, lactation problems, postpartum depression. After discharge from the hospital, the attitude of the mother-in-law changes, they limit her communication with the child, show various kinds of gaslighting (that she is stupid, abnormal, etc.), make her work hard after the operation (moreover, do stupid and meaningless work) and soon a situation of prolonged stress leads to alopecia areata.

Case 2. The client is 28 - 34 years old, for several years she has been experiencing: late abortion for medical reasons; husband gets drunk; due to an infectious disease, it suffers paresis; during the next pregnancy, constant preservation and the threat of termination; a difficult postpartum period, the child has been constantly ill with something serious for 4 years, and is under observation - examinations, compliance with the regime, diets, etc. Lives with his mother and child, part-time jobs, with his mother constant conflicts "out of the blue." Diffuse alopecia.

Case 3. Client 37 - 43 years old, late child (father died of a stroke, mother is often seriously ill), has been experiencing an identity crisis for several years; has a family, children, but does not have his own home; a child from a first marriage dies under unexplained circumstances; work does not bring pleasure, knows a lot, but does not really know what he would like to do; private business attempts fail; at work, constant stress and conflicts due to non-performance of employees. Alopecia develops gradually.

Case 4. A client 32 - 38 years old, like the previous one, has many different skills, but does not see their application; has its own business, which is in strong competition, on the verge of "survival"; three times divorced, has no children but really wants; homeless (leaves the contribution to ex-wives); friends are business partners. Alopecia areata and various somatoform disorders develop.

Case 5. A client 28 - 32 years old, learns about the betrayal of a young man (long-distance relationship), pressure from the management begins at the company ("you are nobody and nothing, not capable of anything, nobody needs anything", etc.), she quits. After a while, a new relationship, a new betrayal and a new dismissal (crisis in the professional environment). Communication with former friends does not work out, tk. interests differ - friends are married, with children, who have no children, they have succeeded in business, etc. Without work, without prospects in her profession, without relationships, the client moves to her parents with whom she has a bad relationship (since she cannot pay for a rented apartment), diffuse alopecia develops.

Case 6. The client is 28-34 years old, together with her husband - a young couple of specialists of a new formation, moving from the capital to the capital of different countries in search of a better job, great prospects. During this period, she is trying to get pregnant, medical intervention does not help, she finds out about her husband's betrayal, changes work for a less paid one, receives a refusal to adopt a child, and relations with parents are suspended.

Case 7. A client of 31-34 years old, a forced migrant, is not married, loses her home, job, friends, moves to another city under the patronage of relatives, finds a normal job (meeting the needs for renting housing, medical treatment, education of a child, etc.), the child does not succeed PTSD, there is no prospect of going back and fixing something. Alopecia areata.

Case 8. The client is 20 - 24 years old, she is going through the death of her grandmother, who raised her instead of her mother. After a while, a friend, with whom they lived together, dies. Carcinophobia develops. Relationship with her husband is "neighborly", repeated attempts to get pregnant fail, intrigues at work, her immediate boss arranged persecution, and she is threatened with dismissal. Alopecia areata.

Case 9. The client is 28 - 32 years old, a successful specialist, a workaholic, has several jobs that do not bring pleasure, material benefits do not motivate. Family life for "tick", does not want children, no friends. Various somatoform disorders develop, incl. alopecia.

The cases described above are certainly all different, at the same time there is something that unites them:

1. Initially, all clients are successful, self-confident, have high intellectual potential, professional prospects, support loved ones, etc. However, life circumstances develop in such a way that they lose faith in themselves, their abilities and capabilities, etc. situations that do not depend on them lead to this, the problem of control manifests itself simultaneously in the direction of irrational amplification, and vice versa, weakening where it is important, they become inattentive, scattered, which helps others to doubt their competence. Over time, clients themselves begin to doubt that they are capable of anything more.

2. All clients have concomitant psychosomatic disorders, also indicating attempts to control what does not need to be controlled (heart, gastrointestinal, etc.).

3. One way or another, the trauma of betrayal, humiliation, trust, loss and difficulty in establishing contacts comes to the surface.

4. In general, clients are positive, characterize themselves as a "strong personality", however, attitudes such as "do not complain, do not sneak and no one will complain about you", "be strong, do not cry", "everyone has their own pain, but no one shows it "," no one likes whiners "," everyone suffers in silence "," they can't stand dirty linen in public "," got down to business - bring it to the end "," charlatans are all around, only you can pull yourself out "etc. Thus, current negative experiences are simply repressed or suppressed. There is "positive thinking" in its negative meaning (attracting interpretations by the ears, marking white with black, etc.). The man puts on the "I'm fine" mask.

5. Subjectively, clients feel that they “have nowhere to go”, “there is no one to intercede for them and there is no one to help them,” “friends-girlfriends (no one) understand,” “the situation is hopeless,” “all prospects are deceptive,” “don’t start, all fails "and so on. However, in the course of psychotherapy it is revealed that clients were offered various kinds of help, which they did not notice, ignored or refused, demonstrating the position" I solve my problems myself."

6. All clients have symptoms of depressive episodes both in the past and in the present, but they did not consult a specialist. They are motivated to see a psychotherapist by the fear of complete baldness and a combination of pathologies, which doctors attribute to "psychosomatics", however, against the background of a general state of hopelessness, helplessness and lack of prospects, working with a psychotherapist is more often considered as an option "to know that I tried everything I could."

7. Appearance, expensive and unpleasant treatment, various kinds of restrictions contribute to the development of secondary depression and related cognitive impairments. The outlook narrows, the problems seem insoluble, the situation is hopeless, the prospects and meaning of life are illusory (which is not objective).

As with other forms of psychosomatic pathologies developing against the background of a depressive state, in the psychotherapy of such cases, the joint work of a doctor and a psychologist is important. Since without changing attitudes and behavioral models, we again come to baldness after a while. However, work with a psychologist alone will not be effective, since in this case a strong and long-term hormonal imbalance is involved. As you can see from the description of the cases, customer problems accumulate gradually, stretching over time. This partly distracts them from understanding the causal relationship of baldness with the experience of trauma. At the same time, it is the aggregate of suppressed and repressed experiences that accumulate and lead to the launch of psychosomatic pathology. However, as mentioned above, not every alopecia develops against the background of masked depression.