Men Are More Scared of Going BALD than Becoming Impotent

This is a study of British men, but I suspect this is also true of most American men. Personally, I would not might at all going bald if it meant I never became impotent. Interestingly, more men are also concerned about going gray than about losing their teeth. Really? You can dye your hair, but once your teeth are gone, they're gone.

It's so interesting how men (people in general) are more concerned about their physical appearance than their physical function. That's more than a little strange to me.

Men are more scared of going BALD than becoming impotent

• 94% of men fear going bald while 89% worry about impotence

• 61% worry about losing their teeth and 64% are concerned about getting fat

• A third are also scared of going deaf while 45% are afraid of needing very thick glasses

By Emma Innes

PUBLISHED: 20 September 2013

There are many undesirable side effects of aging and now new research has revealed which ones strike the most fear into youthful hearts.

A survey has found that men in the UK fear going bald more than they dread impotence.

Two thousand men were quizzed about their biggest fears about aging and ending up with a ‘cue ball’ head came out top.

Some 89 per cent of men fear becoming impotent as they get older. Men also worry about putting on weight, needing thick glasses, going deaf and losing their teeth

Being bald beat being impotent, having bad breath, middle-aged spread and needing thick glasses as the thing that men fear most.

Overall, 94 per cent of men questioned said they worry about going bald - compared to 89 per cent who said being impotent was their greatest concern.

‘Going bald is a frightening prospect for most men,’ said HIS Hair Clinics’ Ian Watson.

‘It’s an open invitation for baldie jokes and snide remarks for everyone from family to strangers in the pub, and it’s just too personal to be funny.

‘I lost my hair in my 20s. I’ve had countless people rub my head like a lucky Buddha, and been called everything from baldilocks to Fester.

‘It wears thin pretty quickly, and soon became downright upsetting.’

THE ASPECTS OF AGING MEN FEAR THE MOST:

• 94% worry about going bald
• 89% are scared of becoming impotent
• 75% are worried about going grey
• 64% are scared of getting fat
• 61% fear losing their teeth
• 45% dread needing ‘jam jar’ glasses
• 31% are scared of going deaf
• 24% are frightened of getting bad breath

The survey asked men in the UK what aspects of ageing they feared most.

Sixty per cent feared losing their teeth, a third were also scared of going deaf, 24 per cent feared bad breath and 64 per cent worried about getting fat.

The thought of getting grey hair scared three quarters of men while 45 per cent were scared of needing ‘jam jar’ glasses.

While hair loss for women is rightly seen as a tragic and upsetting situation, men are often expected to ‘get on with it’, said psychotherapist, Toni Mackenzie.

She said: ‘Hair loss can be genuinely distressing for men. It can’t be easily disguised and people do seem to think it’s fair game for jokes, unlike things like putting on weight or going grey.

‘Men who lose their hair are expected to adopt a laissez-faire attitude and take insults with good humour. The pressure this causes can have a huge effect on men’s self-confidence, which has knock-on effects on their physical and mental wellbeing.’

Mr Watson added: ‘Other than wearing a hat - which you can’t do all the time - there’s not a lot that can be done to hide a completely bald head, unless you spend the cash on a treatment like scalp micro-pigmentation.