"Hair Anorexia" - Is this thing for real????

[Carlie]

"Hair Anorexia" - Is this thing for real????

Here's an example of "Hair Anorexia" -

You can easily see long hair in other people, often even hair that is shorter than your own, but when you look at yourself, you see only short hair.

Can anyone relate to this?

When other people tell you, how "long" your hair is getting ... do you view your hair as long?

I've even seen people with waist length hair refer to their hair as "short" ...but who knows...when I get there, I just may feel the same...

 

[gloomgeisha]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I think it's real. I've had women comment on how long or beautiful my hair is and I'm like "YEAH RIGHT!" I keep thinking back to women on this board with hair way longer and healthier than my own.

I think we as women can be our own worst critics. LOL. I wish there was a help group for this...but I'd have to stop going to my PJ Anonymous meetings and that would be a very bad thing. /images/graemlins/sekret.gif

 

[Poohbear]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

interesting...i still see my medium length hair as short. i sometimes feel like its not growing fast enough.

 

[laketta]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

It is real because I experience it. When I look at my hair it seems as if it is short. It is a mental thing, that's why I started wearing wigs so I can keep myself from looking at my hair all the time.

 

[inthepink]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I've experienced it when my hair was really long...I never realized it (until too late, of course). Everyone was always saying how long it was but I just didn't see it. I never really viewed my hair as being any longer than just bra strap length when in fact, it was way longer than that. Then I would look at other people like Aaliyah and wish my hair was just as long...but it was and that's probably why people called me Aaliyah jokingly all the time! So, yeah, it's real!

 

[mrslee]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

Yep, I sometimes feel like my hair is short when I look in the mirror, but people tell me all the time it is growing. I can really see the difference when I look at old photos and compare them to now.

 

[MonaLisa]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I think it's real. Although my hair is longer than it was a year ago...I still feel "follicly challenged." /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif

 

[ladylibra_30]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

yes, it's real.

when someone refers to you as a woman w/long hair and you actually look around to see the woman they are talking about...you got hair anorexia!

 

[ChasingBliss]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

[ QUOTE ]
MonaLisa said:
I think it's real. Although my hair is longer than it was a year ago...I still feel "follicly challenged." /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
/images/graemlins/laugh.gif@ "follicly challenged"... It's sometimey with me.

 

[sengschick]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'd like to think that it's b/c I don't see my hair down and straightened very often (once in 8 months!). So my image of my own hair is that I have shoulder length hair b/c when it's curly that's the length it is /images/graemlins/look.gif. In reality it's much closer to armpit than shoulder, but mind hasn't made the connect yet /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif.

 

[Carlie]

Re: "Hair Anorexia"

Wow! ...and I thought I was the only one who dealt with this.

 

[dreemssold]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I have it bad. If I don't get myself together soon, I might have to be hospitalized /images/graemlins/grin.gif. I KEEP feeling like my hair hasn't grown since I started. I wasn't taking any proress pics because I was thinking, what's the point, it's the same. Finally, I took a pic because I thought I saw a little something, who knows. People keep telling me it's grown, but I really hardly ever see it. Hairorexia is so real.

 

[Carlie]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

[ QUOTE ]
gloomgeisha said:
I've had women comment on how long or beautiful my hair is and I'm like "YEAH RIGHT!"

[/ QUOTE ]

I can definitely relate! /images/graemlins/laugh.gif I think it's one thing where the hair may actually appear long to others but it's another when the hair actually starts to "feel" long. When does the hair start to "feel" long? I guess it depends on the individual. /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif

For example, my younger sister cut her hair into a very short pixie style and it has grown a lot since then...she can do ponytails now, etc. Now she's always saying "I want long hair!!!" I asked her, "How long do you want to grow it?" She said "to my shoulders." To her, her hair would then feel long....for someone "sickly" like me....I'm not sure when my hair would feel long...

I also have a sister who is waist length and she always complaining about how she want her hair isn't long enough....she's asking me for tips and I'm like "Hello! Look in the mirror!"

 

[nesha24]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I can relate...When I went home in October, my hairdresser (who is the BOMB) kept saying your hair super long, you know how many women pay me to sew this into their heads. Meanwhile I'm thinking super long is wayyyy past bra strap who can she be saying this to me?!?!

I just kept thinking my hair is not all that..I'm trying to not get stuck on that though and be happy with what I have.

 

[Sapphire]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I have it too. /images/graemlins/frown.gif The last time I got a trim my stylist kept commenting on how much my hair had grown since my previous trim a few months before. To me, it seems like it hasn't grown at all! I just don't see it. /images/graemlins/nono.gif

 

[Carlie]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

Does anyone have any ideas for recovery??? /images/graemlins/rosebud.gif

...or is this a lifetime disease!?!?!? /images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[nesha24]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

LOL I think hair obsession will always be around. I think setting goals is good because you can actually SEE results others see. And don't forget to tell yourself that your hair is cute everyday!!!!!! Build up that hair esteem!!! /images/graemlins/smile.gif /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Crysdon]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I have this "problem" really bad. Everytime I see someone's hair that I admire, I secretly wish my hair was like theirs - long, pretty and healthy. One time I went shopping with my niece and there was a woman with beautiful, healthy hair. Her hair was probably about 3 or 4 inches past shoulder length and I said to my niece "I can't wait until my hair gets to that length" and my niece gave me that puzzled look ( /images/graemlins/confused.gif) and said "Auntie Crys, your hair is longer than that".

So yes, I can relate to hair anorexia. In my mind, my hair is just shoulder length. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[bluejay47]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

Too funny, I feel like this all the time. Until my hair is well past bra strap length it will still feel medium length to me! Whenever it seems like it's not growing, I trim it, then it's so much thicker and it seems to give it a growth boost-- in my mind anyway.

 

[unlvgirl]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I have experienced this as well, once my hair got to brastrap I knew it had length but it didn't seem long to me. Even at waist it seemed as if it was not as long as other people's hair. I only began to see my hair for what it really is when I joined this board and looked at the pictures that I had posted. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[InsertCleverNameHere]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I experience it. I see other folks with pics whose hair is the same length as mine and I always think, "why doesn't my hair look that long?!?!?!"

 

[SandySea]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I have hair anorexia too. But my problem isn't worrying about length, but the thickness. Since my hair has been thin and stringy for so many years, whenever I look in the mirror it's hard for me not to see that same thin head of hair. That's why it's important to keep a picture log. When I looked at my pictures from May 2004, I stopped complaining.

 

[Carlie]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

[ QUOTE ]
nesha24 said:
LOL I think hair obsession will always be around. I think setting goals is good because you can actually SEE results others see. And don't forget to tell yourself that your hair is cute everyday!!!!!! Build up that hair esteem!!! /images/graemlins/smile.gif /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
This is good advice. /images/graemlins/smile.gif Maybe we should start our own "H.A." support group! /images/graemlins/think.gif

 

[dannie]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

Yes. I have hair anorexia. When I stretch my hair because it's "texturized/underprocessed" at the roots it's definatly BS. But on an everyday basis it looks the same length it's been at for 6mnths now. I too look at woman and wonder when my hair will be as long as theirs. The other day my mexican friend said "damn your hair is long". I was like wow!!! If she says it it must be true.

The funny thing is since my "touch-up" on Sunday, my hair feels way longer than before. However it still looks armpit length to me. I don't know, this whole thing is weird.

 

[renee_n_3000]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I am sometimes surprised by how long my hair looks in snapshots but I don't think that's a bad thing. Looking at myself in a mirror for a moment before leaving the house is just different from seeing a photo, I guess.

When I cut my hair I don't truly notice that it has grown back until I see a photo or someone says something. Other people might notice because they see me one day with a hair cut, then they don't see me again for a few months and will point out that it's longer. But when they mention that it has grown back, my reaction is usually /images/graemlins/confused.gif because I haven't paid attention. I think that's natural. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[moneychaser]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

[ QUOTE ]
gloomgeisha said:
I think it's real. I've had women comment on how long or beautiful my hair is and I'm like "YEAH RIGHT!" I keep thinking back to women on this board with hair way longer and healthier than my own.


[/ QUOTE ]
Same here!!!!!

 

[Babygurl]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

Its definately real for me, I know it has grown but to me its still short. Maybe when the sides and back are the same length Ill feel better.

 

[good2uuuu]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

Yep. I've got it! Even though my hair is not too far from bsl when I straighten it, I still feel as though it's on the short side. Kinda like loosing a lot of weight but still seeing yourself as fat.

 

[amy1234]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

I can relate to this as well. To be honest I get my reality check when I notice that not much other women like me have hair as long as mines in my day to day life.

 

[Tru_Mind]

Re: \"Hair Anorexia\" - Is this thing for real????

Wow! I've never had this. I guess, because I always loved short hair cuts (like Halle Berry's cut). My mom always had a short cut, and I always thought that short hair made women look powerful and in control of their own.