Influencer with more than 95k Instagram followers became agoraphobic after male pattern hair loss – Cornwall Live

A social media influencer with more than 95,000 Instagram followers has revealed how his struggles with self-image because of male pattern hair loss left him avoiding mirrors and even made him agoraphobic.

Cosmin Cernica, 28, who divides his time between London and Dubai, admits there was a time when he avoided posting photos of himself after he started losing his hair four years ago.

Cosmin, who lives with his husband Robert, 51, owner of a project management consultancy, in Chelsea, west London, said: “I really felt my whole world turn upside down.”

He added: “I spent hours in the morning in the bathroom looking with a magnifying glass at my hair to see if more had come out overnight. It was like I was torturing myself.”

He even became agoraphobic – making him scared to go out – after lockdown restrictions began to ease, sparked by his fear that friends would notice a change in his hairline.

He said: “It was quite a shock when I noticed my hair loss for the first time, because I was only 24 and I hadn’t considered that I would go bald, especially as I was so young.”

He added: “For some people, especially men, they won’t be bothered about losing hair, but I couldn’t imagine myself going bald.

“I’m completely in love with my job and what I do. I have so much passion for social media and the influence world, but it really does come with a lot of pressure.

“In my industry, image is so important and plays a major part in everything I do, whether that is being active on social media or attending events.”

Cosmin works as a social media consultant and content creator, advising others on how to run their pages.

He added: “As part of my content creating, I have to post pictures of myself, and I definitely feel under pressure to look the best I can – even sometimes feeling I need to edit or crop pictures, as I fear a backlash and worry about what people would say if I didn’t look the part.”

And Cosmin says his issues began to seep into other aspects of his life – even ruining holidays with his husband.

He said: “Whenever we were travelling, my husband would want to take photos of us together while sightseeing, but I would never take my hat off. I couldn’t just switch off, I worried about my hair all the time.”

He added: “There was even a time where, we were going through airport security, and I was asked to remove my hat. I started crying in front of everyone. Even now it makes me emotional to think about …….

Source: https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/uk-world-news/influencer-more-95k-instagram-followers-6269303