How can i stop my hair falling out?

My hair is really thin (like super duper thin, like the diameter of a 5p coin!) and keeps getting thinner, and it falls out alot too, like everytime i brush it or wear it in a ponytail loads falls out. How can i stop all this? I always wear it in a ponytail (everyday) and i havent had it cut for over a year (couldnt afford it). Im going to start getting it cut regularly and ive been told that wearing it down will help. But i feel so self conscious when i wear it down because i get paranoid that people can tell how thin it is, any advice?