hi everyone,

i'm extremely desperate for any type of knowledge or help on what to do. basically my dad died a year ago, & i fell into a deep depression, on another level. i stopped taking care of myself, my hair especially. it kept getting tangled very badly & id spend hours brushing it away. well the past 6 months i had it up in a bun & did not brush it i just kept it up. when i realized it was getting worse & worse, i got scared & neglected it even more to the point where the matts are extremely solid.

i'm very scared & i have thick, long curly hair & i cherish it. the matts are very close to my scalp otherwise i would have cut them off. for as long as my hair was up i still don't understand how they got this bad. i've tried getting it out over the past week & a half w 5 different people & 6 different sessions. we have tried all kinds of conditioners, letting it soak, washing it, coconut oil, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, leave in conditioner. i feel so defeated & frustrated. my hair is extremely itchy & the weight of the the solid matts are causing my head a lot of pain.

it was one big solid matt & one of my friends stupidly detangled it as much as she could & then cut the rest so now it's split in 2. so think of 2 golf ball sized solid matts on either side of my head an inch or less from my scalp. please help me!!!! i can't afford to go to a salon idk if that would even help. i don't have a lot of money but im wiling to try anything i can at this point. i'm going to attach photos below.

first photo is where it was at when it was all together, before my friend cut it. the 2nd & 3rd photo is where it sits today even after the many conditioners, oils & many combs that have broken to try to get it separated w no luck. i would have just cut my hair short even tho i dont want to, if they weren't so close to my head. i would practically have to shave my head i think w how close they are to my scalp. HELP