I'm male so it's not the same if I say I love shaving my hair because it helps me feel less stressed. I look a lot better with longer hair but it's a nightmare once it gets to a length - it's more stress than it's worth.

It's completely understandable regarding esteem. It's the first thing people see.. and I've had alopecia where there's bits of hair that falls out. Recent years it's been caused by a lack of B12 and B5, and vitamin D (could be a coincidence that I've had these deficiencies at the same time). It does make you feel paranoid when you go out when you have these 'holes'... shaving is too impossible as hair (elsewhere) grows back but the missing hair takes about 8 months to properly return. Even then, when the hair falls out it's completely smooth so it stands out (no follicles show)..

The only other thing I'd say is to make sure your skin on your scalp is ok. I also suffer from s-dermititis, which I didn't realise until recently and that freaks people out.