First Alopecia Victoria event Feb 26th in Melbourne

                                                                                                                                                   
Dr Nadine Cameron from Body Map will be presenting at this evening event in Carlton, Thursday 26th February 6.30 to 8.30, First Floor, 80 Drummond St, on the corner with Queensberry St.
There'll be time to chat with old friends and meet new ones. Join us!!
$5 on the night.

RSVP to alopeciavictoria@gmail.com

Self compassion and mindfulness

Have you ever wondered when thinking about the emotional and psychological implications of losing your hair, how a psychologist with alopecia would deal with it? Well, Dr Cheree Hammond has shared her perspective.  She teaches counselling and mindfulness at a US university and this is a lovely and thought provoking endorsement of the value of self compassion and mindfulness in creating an emotional environment which promotes the positive and creates valuable learning.

A great article! Read more https://bit.ly/2JBrZVL

Battling Alopecia Areata

A great article "Battling Alopecia Areata", with this confronting photo on the cover is definitely worth a read. The whole issue of 'Dermatology World' (4Mb), published in 2012 by the American Academy of Dermatology (aad.org), needs to be downloaded. The relevant article starts on page 14.

https://www.aad.org/File%20Library/Dermworld/may-2012-dw.pdf 

News items on Alopecia UK

Three informative news items from the Alopecia UK website.

• Joanna Rowsell is now and ambassador for them and is supporting the Priority Setting Partnership conducted by the James Lind Alliance

• Changing Faces have run a workshop for parents and included parents whose child has alopecia

• The charity calendar featuring bare naked alopecia ladies has gone gangbusters! 

Pay Alopecia UK a visit, their link is on our Blogroll at right.

Face Your Fears: A useful skill for all aspiring alopeciologists!

 
'Changing Faces' and the British Skin Foundation have joined forces to run "FACE YOUR FEARS" week in the UK 13th to 20th October.
Given the fears that dog people with alopecia in social situations, what activities might help us face that fear and master an important skill?

http://bit.ly/1t14JRC

Julie Gale stands up for more empathy for why a woman may be wearing head covering

Herald Sun photo by Mike Keating

Oh dear oh dear oh dear...common sense prevails but not without first embarrassing a woman wearing a scarf entering a courtroom in Melbourne. What's really disappointing are many of the comments from readers. Still they picked the wrong woman to humiliate, she has well and truly stood up for questioning a gross insensitivity...This is a skilled woman in the best sense of alopeciology.
A good example of the need for some public education about the experience of losing your hair!        http://bit.ly/1vOvR70

Changing Faces is a not for profit organisation in the UK which supports people who look different whether from a trauma or a medical condition. They have just released a report "Look at Me" which urges the UK National Health service to pay more attention to the psychosocial aspects of dermatology care. You can read the report here
http://bit.ly/1vzDFsk 
                         or visit their web page for info about the report and the issues it covers
                        http://bit.ly/1nWeJLP

WooHoo NLNL (No Lights No Lycra) have a schmik web page
Who will organise the first alopecia NLNL??

http://nolightsnolycra.com/the-nlnl-story/

No Lights No Lycra is an dance community that started in Melbourne by unruly dance students Alice Glenn and Heidi Barrett in 2009. There is no light, no lycra, no teacher, no steps to learn, no technique, just free movement. NLNL is a space where you can completely let go, shake out the stresses of the week, and lose yourself in the music and the physicality of your body. NLNL is a daggy, non-pretentious place to completely be yourself.

Ditching self consciousness - Another alopeciology skill!

No Lights No Lycra - a dance craze started in East Brunswick, Oz now has 42 communities around the world.   http://ab.co/1wwDOzj

"For many of us, the idea of dancing in public is terrifying. The only time we will bust out some real moves is at home in our living rooms, when no-one can see.
But now there is a space where you can do just that, but in the company of others, because the lights are switched off". Perfect activity for the less 'out there' amongst us, age-friendly, no alcohol mayhem.
Watch the program http://ab.co/1oSmWv7






   

'Pretty Bald' a nude fundraising calendar

Fundraising nude calendars which seem a very British creation, are really popular. In 2008 it was estimated that somewhere around 6000 have been made. 'Pretty Bald', the alopecia nude calendar just released in the UK has raised thousands of pounds for the UK charity Alopecia UK http://dailym.ai/1lKrasI   

In 2008 The Daily Telegraph reported some research http://bit.ly/1wkmqe5 by Dr Pamela Turton-Turner, of the University of Tasmania. 
Her research suggested the most successful calendars are funny, the naked bodies sanitised rather than erotic, and the public must regard the charity as worthy.  She notes one of the failures was the Australian Matilda's 2000 soccer team calendar, because the images were too sexually explicit.

Did the UK calendar hit the mark? You can buy a copy for 10 Pounds from the Pretty Bald webpage http://www.prettybald.co.uk/the-calendar/ .