This hairstylist’s moving photos illustrate one woman’s struggle with depression

Sometimes an act of kindness can be life-changing.

If you are one of the 350 million people worldwide who suffer from depression, then you know that some days it can be difficult to even get out of bed. Small tasks like taking a shower or brushing your hair can feel monumental. When you are in the pit of despair, self-care often falls to the wayside (which sadly tends to make you feel worse.)

Hairstylist Kate Langman was working at The Salon in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, when she came face-to-face with this very reality. She saw a woman piling several bottles of Redken’s “All Soft” conditioner in her arms.

Langman approached the customer and asked if she needed any help. Somewhat sheepishly, the customer confessed that after months of depression and being unable to get out of bed, she needed conditioning products to help her get a brush through her hair.

The friendly hairstylist was instantly sympathetic as she has a family member who has experienced depression. Rather than just sending away the customer with her bottles of conditioner, the stylist invited her to come back to The Salon (which is located inside an Ulta Beauty store) for an appointment.

As 23-year-old Langman told the Huffington Post, “If I would have let her walk away with all of those products that she spent a hundreds of dollars on, she would have gotten nowhere—which she would have possibly viewed as another failure for her.”

Wow. What an empathetic young woman! Not to mention… an incredible hairstylist! Langnam spent four-and-a-half hours combing the woman’s matted locks, and then she cut and colored her hair.

Langman spoke about the moving experience on Facebook, saying, “By the end of this service, I could see the sparkle in her eyes and I could see her cheeks get rosy pink from the excitement of not only being able to run her fingers through her hair again, but she felt herself again. I changed someone’s life today [and] I’ll never ever forget it.”

Check out these stunning before-and-after pictures:

The woman asked to remain anonymous but she allowed Langman to share her beautiful work with her social media page. Not only do the pictures give a powerful testament to how overwhelming and all-encompassing depression can be, but they also show what a life-changing impact one person can make on someone who is struggling, simply by reaching out in kindness.

[h/t: Huffington Post]