Okay, so many people find social situations terrifying. I am no exception, but sometimes we can turn this 'unwanted attention' into something to be confident about. This post will be discussing how dying my hair has helped me with my social anxiety and how I feel about the constant stares.
Since I was in year 7 (2013) I wanted bright coloured hair, despite my extreme anxiety. Being the centre of attention has always been something that I avoid at all costs but you can imagine what its like for someone with bright hair. I knew the risk of everyone looking at me like I was an alien and yet I still longed for the beautiful colours on my head. Flash forward to Year 11 (2018) and not long after my 17th birthday. BRIGHT RED HAIR. I was happy and fell in love with the amazing hair that I got to have.
I quickly found that people had various reactions to my bright colours and not all where positive. I got asked so many questions like, "how long did it take?", "Did you bleach it?", "Where you scared about what it would look like?", "How did your mum react?", "Do you know looks weird?", "Did you do it yourself?", and the most annoying, "Why?". All this attention was a bit overwhelming at first but within a week or so I saw a change in myself.
I have always just faded into the back and tried to be hidden, but now I was there for everyone to point at and whisper about. Yet, I didn't mind it. I felt so happy and confident in my bold colour that I didn't care if others liked it or what they where saying about me. I finally began to feel good about myself and the attention didn't worry me at all. I was the only person in my school (over 600) to have dyed my hair and it felt great. The dye didn't stop at Red, I went purple, pink, aqua/blue ombre and now blue and purple ombre. The addictive nature of being able to control what you look like was empowering and made me the happiest version of myself.
I still get the awkward questions and stares when in public. But, I couldn't care less. I'm happy about how I look for the first time and I feel like I have control over one more thing. Plus the colours make me happy haha. I feel proud to be myself and show off my amazing hair. My social anxiety has basically disappeared (compared to what it was), and I'm just happier in general.
So, If you are worried about what people may say about you but you long for colourful locks.......Just go for it! I promise that it will make you feel so much better about yourself and be such an amazing was of expressing yourself. Just remember to do some research first and get help if needed.
I hope that you enjoyed this post and that it helps in one way or another. It is important to note that I am not saying that hair dye will cure anxiety because it definitely doesn't, I'm just saying what my experience with both anxiety and hair dye has been and how it helped me accept myself more.
Thank you to my amazing boyfriend and his beautiful sister in helping me through this whole experience and being so supportive about everything :) <3
Jen xx
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