Ashley Tisdale spoke about her alopecia diagnosis – see video

According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, approximately 6.8 million people in the United States will experience alopecia areata at some point in their lives Ashley Tisdale is one of those people. On Jan. 11, the Disney Channel graduate released a short video explaining that she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease and sharing some of the things she had done to treat her hair loss.

Tisdale opened the video by recalling noticing a bald spot near her hairline in her early 20s and asking her hair dyer what was going on. That day she discovered what alopecia is and went to her dermatologist who diagnosed her with the autoimmune disease. She learned how much stress can trigger the condition, and at the time she was dealing with it a lot. “So the hair grew back, and fortunately it always does. But there have been a few times in my life where I’ve had very stressful events,” she said. “And I realized it’s going to come back, and I wanted to share a few things that helped me, because just having it can be stressful.”

Two important things she does are stress management and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. While there’s no way to completely eliminate stress (and if anyone knows the secret, please let us know), Tisdale is happy to invest in yoga, therapy, meditation, and simply re-evaluate her priorities. “A lot of times my cortisol is high because I’m stressing myself out for no reason sometimes, so it’s really important to know what’s actually a big deal and what’s not a big deal,” she explained.