Washington (CNN) Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts on Thursday publicly revealed for the first time that she has an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss.

"This is my official public revealing. I have only been bald in the privacy of my home and in the company of close friends," Pressley says at the beginning of the video.

Dressed in black and white and wearing a long, curly wig, Pressley opened up about the condition that not only can result in total hair loss, but takes an emotional toll on those who suffer from it. Later in the interview, Pressley is seen without the wig dressed in yellow.

"I am ready now. Because I wanna be freed from the secret and the shame that that secret carries with it," she said. "And because I'm not here just to occupy space, I'm here to create it. And I wanna be free. I am making peace with having alopecia, I have not arrived there. I am very early in my alopecia journey. But I'm making progress every day."

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