The Hairdressers
Unfortunately, I do not have any photo's of myself from the time
The hairdressers is something I used to dread. In-fact, I just did not go at all. My long untidy hair earned me the nickname of ‘Happy Hippy Hanlon’. The happy part was a sarcastic comment about my generally miserable demeanour at the time. Eventually a friend I made in the last year of school gave me an exceptionally stylish 90s undercut. This probably only slightly improved the situation, but I was grateful at the time. A year or so later my sister had a go which had better results I seem to remember.
While many fear the dentist, hairdressers seems to be a more common fears for people with social anxiety. Having your mouth stretched open with a mirror stuck in it seems much more preferable than having to make polite small talk while someone holds sharp pointy things to your head. Today, I do not mind either and shall be off to my Italian friend for a slightly overdue trim later, but I know that for many, deciding whether or not to go to the hairdressers remains an uncomfortable dilemma.
Tags: bullying, Dread, hair, Haircut, Hairdressers
June 15th, 2009 at 1:39 am
The best information i have found exactly here. Keep going Thank you
June 24th, 2009 at 7:11 am
I still have some anxiety but its almost all gone now.
October 30th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Maybe you could change the webpage title
The Hairdressers to something more specific for your webpage you make. I enjoyed the post even sononetheless.
December 14th, 2010 at 3:54 am
I am a hairstylist, and I too suffer from social anxiety. Long story short: it’s been an uphill battle for me. I don’t know if this will help anyone, but not all of us are chatty cathy’s and truly do appreciate the silence. Like you, I’m freaking out in my head thinking things like, what should I say next, what questions haven’t I asked already, what are they thinking (big one), do they think I’m weird for not being able to hold a conversation, do they like me, are they criticizing my work (another biggie), yadda yadda yadda. However, if you’re a faithful client and come back every 4-6wks, or any regular schedule, then I know that you do appreciate my work and there just becomes this unspoken understanding between the two of us that is really quite nice. It’s exhausting for me to have to make conversation all day every day w/ several different people, so getting a brake from that is definately not a bad thing:) Hope this helps!
August 24th, 2011 at 11:55 am
I’m going to the hairdressers in 45 minutes and I’m completely freaked out, this isn’t going to go very well…!! I’ve been dreading this for weeks, but I’ve decided I have to go!!
September 12th, 2011 at 9:43 am
I prefer going to the dentist than the hairdresser. Not only are you not expected to make small talk, but there is little chance of your teeth being rearranged based on the dentist’s judgment of your dress-sense!
It took me quite a while to find a hairdresser who was good at their job and whom I felt comfortable with. He not only cut well but was pleasant, didn’t appear judgmental and didn’t expect you to do a lot of talking. Unfortunately, he has now left the salon, ironically enough having gone on permanent sick leave with anxiety and depression. It is a great shame. He still had most his career ahead of him and was a great hairdresser.