Can Stress Cause Hair Loss?

Most people believe that stress leads to premature greying and hair loss. Is it really possible? Let’s find out the reality. Experts are of view that we often don’t recognise the stressors in our day to day life. It is a repeated myth that stress is closely related to hair loss. Therefore, people have started to believe.

[Read: Causes of Hair Loss]

When a person is under stress, his/her body starts to give signals in different manner. In some people hair loss is the signal of stress. Types of hair loss that can be associated with stress:

• Alopecia areata also known as spot baldness is a medical condition in which person loses patches of hair. Psychological stress is considered to be one of the possible causes of alopecia areata. In this type of hair loss white blood cells start attacking hair follicle and stop hair growth. [Read: What are the Symptoms of Alopecia Areata?]

• Telogen effluvium is a less severe type of hair loss wherein, hair stops growing and fall out after 2 or 3 months. However they grow back within 6 to 9 months. In telogen effluvium emotional and psychological stress takes hair into resting phase.

[Read: What is the Treatment of Telogen Effluvium]

• Trichotillomania is irresistible urge to pull hair is termed as trichotillomania. The negative and uncomfortable feelings such as stress, fatigue, anxiety, loneliness, tension and frustration are some of its causes.

Stress is not permanent and so is the hair loss that stems-out due to stress. If you get your stress under control then your hair may grow back. Therefore if you think that your reason for hair loss is stress then work on stress rather than getting treatment for hair fall.

Hair loss is not directly related to stress. If you are under stress then you are less likely to eat properly, not get adequate amount of sleep and lose weight. All such factors can cause imbalance in your system. When you notice that your hair are thinning or excessively falling then immediately consult your doctor. Besides stress there are many other possible causes of hair loss. Some of them being:

• Major surgery.
• High fever.
• Severe infections.
• Low estrogen level, especially post childbirth.
• A strict low calorie diet.
• Birth control pills.

Sometimes even a small amount of stress can bring many changes in your body’s routine psychological well being. Connection of hair loss and stress still remain a debatable issue.