Though the symptoms of alopecia areata typically do not cause physical pain, many people with the condition say that it causes emotional, or psychological, pain. This type of pain is as serious (and can feel the same) as physical pain and can lead to feelings of sadness, depression and anxiety.
Common anxiety related hair loss descriptions: You notice your hair is thinning. You notice your hair is falling out in clumps. You notice you are getting some bald spots.
The hair loss is temporary, and should return to its pre-effluvium density, although this process is generally slow. It can take months (but generally less than 6) before the shedding stops, and then months to years for lost hair to grow back at the sluggish rate of ~½ inch per month.
Severe stress is one of several potential causes of alopecia areata, a state in which your body's immune system attacks hair follicles, inducing loss of hair. Hormonal imbalances, often linked with depression, are another potential source of thinning hair and hair loss.
In alopecia areata, the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, causing inflammation. Researchers do not fully understand what causes the immune attack on hair follicles, but they believe that both genetic and environmental (non-genetic) factors play a role.
Compared with the general population, increased prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders are associated with alopecia (Koo et al., 1994) suggesting that people with alopecia may be at higher risk for development of a major depressive episode, anxiety disorder, social phobia or paranoid disorder.
A variety of factors are thought to cause alopecia areata (al-o-PEE-she-uh ar-e-A-tuh), possibly including severe stress. With alopecia areata, the body's immune system attacks the hair follicles — causing hair loss.
If your daily hair fall is more than the usual 80-100 strands of hair, you might be suffering from stress-related hair loss. If you notice bald patches on your scalp, it may be a sign of Alopecia Areata. If you have had the urge to pull out your hair, it may be stress-induced Trichotillomania.
Stress and Hair Loss: Potential Ways to Cope
Get regular exercise, which helps manage stress and its effects. Spend time with positive people — isolating yourself can make stress worse. Seek professional help from a therapist. Eat a healthy diet and take a multivitamin if your doctor recommends it.
Several medications are available to treat both anxiety and hair loss. These include anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants, which your healthcare provider may prescribe while you take part in therapy if you have an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety, OCD, and bipolar disorder have been known to cause hair loss. The disorder Trichotillomania creates an irresistible urge to pull out the hair from your scalp, eyebrows, and other areas of the body.
Prolonged periods of stress can result in telogen effluvium. Hair loss typically occurs about 3 months after the stressful event.
Yes. Hair loss due to stress is usually reversible. Once you get your stress levels under control, you may be able to reverse stress alopecia. In about 6-9 months, your hair could grow back to its normal fullness without any treatment, especially in the case of telogen effluvium.
There is no cure for AA. While treatments may promote hair growth, new patches of hair loss may continue to appear. The treatments are not a cure. Only the body, itself, can eventually turn off the condition.
Overview. Hair loss (alopecia) can affect just your scalp or your entire body, and it can be temporary or permanent. It can be the result of heredity, hormonal changes, medical conditions or a normal part of aging. Anyone can lose hair on their head, but it's more common in men.
The first sign of alopecia areata is often a round or oval bald patch on the scalp.
There is currently no cure for alopecia areata, although there are some forms of treatment that can be suggested by doctors to help hair re-grow more quickly. The most common form of alopecia areata treatment is the use of corticosteroids, powerful anti-inflammatory drugs that can suppress the immune system.
It is believed that the person's genetic makeup may trigger the autoimmune reaction of alopecia areata, along with a virus or a substance the person comes into contact with. Alopecia areata is an unpredictable disease. In some people, hair grows back but falls out again later. In others, hair grows back and remains.
Telogen effluvium hair loss — the type of hair loss linked to stress — typically affects your scalp and may appear as patchy hair loss. However, it can also cause you to shed more body hair or notice less hair on your body than you normally would.
Can hair loss be related to stress? The bad news is yes, but the good news is that stress-induced hair loss is usually temporary.
Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease characterized by hair loss that can affect the scalp, face (e.g. eyebrows and eyelashes) and body [1].