HEALTH Alopecia Support Advocate: There Is a High Rate of Suicide in the Alopecia Community Aaron Allen Over the past few weeks, many people around the world have been given a crash course on alopecia. Alopecia areata, also known as spot baldness, is a condition in which hair is lost from some or all areas of the body. Often, it results in a few bald spots on the scalp, each about the size of a coin. Psychological stress and illness are possible factors in bringing on alopecia areata in individuals at risk, but in most cases, there is no obvious trigger, as people are generally otherwise healthy. In a few cases, all the hair on the scalp is lost (alopecia totalis), or all body hair is lost (alopecia universalis), and the loss can be permanent. It is distinctive from pattern hair loss, which is common among males. Alopecia areata is believed to be an autoimmune disease resulting from a breach in the immune privilege of the hair follicles. The recent incident at the Oscar’s between Chris Rock, Will Smith, and Jada Pinkett-Smith may have
shed light on the issue, but the reality is that alopecia is more common than people think and the personal struggles and mental health issues of people living with alopecia is something that we should all be concerned about. Jamie Elmore, a licensed hairstylist and salon owner in Seattle for over 30 years, knows first-hand the struggles of dealing with alopecia. The founder of a national alopecia support group, Elmore, who was first diagnosed with alopecia in 2004, is currently dealing with the agony of one of her mentees who recently took her own life. The 12-year-old girl from the Midwest had recently found out that she had alopecia and could no longer deal with the stress of being teased and bullied by her fellow students. Elmore says that hearing the news that one of her mentees had given up on life shook her to the core. “The mental health aspect should be addressed when it comes to alopecia because in the alopecia community there is a high rate of suicide,” says Elmore. “Just recently we buried one of our babies, 12-years-old, the
Photograph courtesy of Andrea Picquadio/Pexels.
kids were bullying, they were taking off her wig, tormenting this little girl. Within a three-week period, this baby committed suicide.” Elmore, who discovered her first bald spot in 1998, has turned her struggle into an international move-
ment helping others all over the world inflicted with alopecia, learn the nature of the disease and how to overcome its physical and emotional effects. “After the birth of my daughter and her herself having health challenges, I didn’t realize the amount of stress going on my life, so in turn, my body started responding and I started losing my hair,” recalls Elmore. “Fast-forward and my journey was interesting because I had never seen alopecia before and being a hairstylist, I’d never seen it, never heard of it, until it happened to me.” “It took a long time for me to accept this,” she continued. “I would say that I began to accept it around 2015 and I would say it still has been a journey. Acceptance to me was accepting the fact that I had lost my hair. Accepting the fact that I did not look like the Jamie I knew. Accepting the fact this was out of my control, accepting the fact that my femininity had been stripped from me. Since the time of her acceptance, Elmore has transformed herself from being a potential victim into a nationwide advocate and has used her personal story and leadership to enlighten and enrich the lives of those suffering from alopecia. She started a magazine,
Bald Life, to tell the stories of people overcoming the mental struggles of having alopecia and to celebrate the inner and outer beauty of women who have lost their hair. She also founded the Bald Boss Community to support men, women, and children with all forms of alopecia; and the Alopecia Support Group, a non-profit that provides aid, programs, and innovative therapeutic methods that are vital in the healing process for survivors who are experiencing Alopecia and/or hair loss. “Acceptance looks different to so many people,” says Elmore. “But I got to the point where I accepted enough to where I made a decision that I was not going to wear wigs any longer, I was not going to cover up, it was going to be more of a choice, more of an accessory as far as if I chose to wear a hat or a scarf.” Gabriel Carter, a graphic and brand designer in Baltimore, discovered he had alopecia at a very young age and endured bullying and teasing since the age of seven. But just like Elmore, Carter learned to overcome and transformed the negativity into a leadership role within the alopecia community. WI For the full story go to wordinblack.com
THOMAS from Page 8
being” in their marriage and their politics. Although Thomas is protected from a code of judicial ethics as a Supreme Court justice — a code that applies to all other federal judges — he continues to use that special dispensation to ignore any sense of duty to avoid what Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the “stink” of partisanship. This adds weight to calls for him to leave the court to make room for someone who accepts their responsibility to protect the highest court in the country’s credibility and reputation. In the difference to the two other branches of the federal government, the Supreme Court depends largely on public trust to maintain its influence and authority. Thomas has repeatedly betrayed that trust and therefore undermined the democracy and freedom he claims to revere. In conclusion, let’s turn to the last words back in the 16th century of William Shakespeare, “Live in thy shame, but die not shame with thee.” WI
Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist and Thomas himself. According to dozens of messages to Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Ginni Thonas worked tirelessly after the presidential election in 2020 to overturn the thoroughly vetted defeat of Trump (who has still not conceded). Moreover, the couple has long had questions raised about Thomas’ ethics in cases in the past where she has been an active advocate. He has continued to refuse to answer those questions appropriately. A report in the New York Times Magazine in March 2022 said that they have appeared for years together at highly political events hosted by advocates hoping to sway the court. While it is possible that married people can have independent views and careers, the Thomases have gone way beyond what is considered ethically proper behavior, particularly because they brag about how they are fused “into one
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