"It's a condition that's quite rare. Because I can hide it so well, few people know. You feel like you're alone... That's a big part of sharing my story because it feels like a coming out process."
Michelle is 24. She suffers from alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition which causes your immune system to mistake the hair follicle as foreign bacteria. The while blood cells shrink the hair follicle to the point where they can't hold hair. It is genetic, affects about 2% of the population, and men and women in equal numbers. There are many types of alopecia. Michelle has one of the most severe types.
"I was about twelve in the first year of high school... I started off having bald patches, and it would have all fallen out within six months. Then I started losing my eyebrows so I had to deal with that, and then my eyelashes, and my nostril hair."
"Generally I'm not comfortable going outside and interacting with the population when I'm wigless because there's the expectation that a woman should look feminine and have beautiful hair in order to look attractive."
