These are pictures by the bravest woman I know. When Christine started on the BB, she didn't have the courage to do this. I remember how long it took her, and through what anguish she went, to show her husband how she looked without her hairpiece. Then she posted a page with a few photos on the BB one night, and when I saw it, it was a terrible shock to me. It wasn't because of how she looked, but suddenly I was confronted with a memory I hadn't faced up to then. My hair looked like that when it was at it's worst (at 13). Even though I told people how it looked, it was almost an artificial memory that I had. When I saw her pictures, I suddenly had to face up to the reality. I literally felt sick! I actually remember when I just discovered about TTM, I stumbled onto a picture of a TTM sufferer. Even before the picture could open up properly, I closed the window! I just couldn't cope with it at that stage. It was at least 18 months later, when I saw Steph's pictures, and even that made me feel sick. When Christine posted her pics, I wasn't at all prepared for what I would see. It was an incredible shock to me. I was in an almost-depressed state for a week or so. Today I am incredibly thankful to Christine for enabling me to make peace with a part of my trich history. I needed her pics to get another part of emotional healing from trich. Christine, I will always be thankful to you for your courage. I salute you!
Seeing the pictures, also meant a lot to my husband. Up to then, he didn't really understand why trich was such a big deal to me. He knew what it did to me (emotionally), and really supported me, but only after he had seen Christine's pics, did he really understand why trich scares me so much. Only then did he realize why I am so scared of pulling even one hair. I know how much damage one could do in one night - but for a non-trich person, it is almost impossible to imagine or comprehend. I don't think that it is in their area of knowledge or understanding. These pics helped Louis understand me better, and gave him the opportunity to support me better because he now understands better.
Amanda
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