When I first started getting comfortable with sharing my story I would reach out to mental health podcasts to see if they'd allow me to share about it. I would listen to some of their episodes in order to see if it made sense for me to ask and if I thought it would be a good fit. I never got my hopes up though. A lot of people never heard of trichotillomania - even those who have it don't know it has a name! So I wasn't expecting a resounding yes from everyone I reached out to. I figured it was worth a shot and for some, maybe learning about the hair-pulling disorder for the first time from someone who had it would be interesting enough. A lot of the podcasts I reached out to said yes, some ignored my email and/or message, and one flat out said no.
When I first saw the beginning of the message, something along the lines of: "Thank you for your interest but unfortunately..." my stomach dropped. I really thought this podcast would be a good fit! Rejection hurts no matter if your hopes are up or not. It stings. I decided I wouldn't read the rest of the message just yet. Try and shake it off.
When I eventually came around to reading the rest of the message I was smiling by the end. I had to reread the message multiple times because I just couldn't believe the reason they rejected my idea. It turns out we were a great fit. So great in fact that they recently interviewed someone else with trichotillomania and would be editing and airing their episode in the coming months. They rejected me because they already had someone with trichotillomania on their show. That is AWESOME!
I'm so happy for the guest that shared their story! It means they're willing to talk about it publicly, something many people with trichotillomania feel like they can't do. Trichotillomania, as we know, causes a lot of shame and isolates you. You feel like the only one in the world who has it. You feel like if you shared about it people wouldn't like you anymore or even worse, make fun of you. This person wasn't allowing those negative feelings to stop them from spreading awareness. I am so proud.
If I had to be turned down for a reason, this was the best one.