At first glance, a connection between one’s mental health and their hair health (or volume) might seem odd. However, the mind-body connection is a powerful one, and the link between a man’s physical and mental health even extends to the health of his hair.
Can Stress and Anxiety Cause Hair Loss?
Stress, anxiety, and a host of other mental conditions can wreak havoc on the hair and scalp, causing disruptions in the hair’s growth cycle that lead to excess shedding and hair loss. These conditions may cause behavioral or autoimmune issues that affect the hair as well.
What Does Stress Hair Loss Look Like?
Stress-related hair loss typically presents as telogen effluvium. That’s the term for when large numbers of hair follicles are pushed into their resting phase – with diffuse, all-over shedding in excess of a hundred strands per day.
Stress may also trigger alopecia areata, an autoimmune response that causes patchy hair loss. It may also lead to trichotillomania… a nervous habit of pulling out strands of hair, resulting in thin or balding patches on the scalp or elsewhere on the body.
Is Hair Loss from Stress Permanent?
Fortunately, stress-related hair loss isn’t always permanent. If you reduce or remove your stressors and find ways to manage stress levels, there’s a good chance your hair loss will stop and that your hair will grow back. It may take six to nine months for your hair to return to normal… but a healthy, low-stress lifestyle and non-surgical hair restoration treatments increase the likelihood of that happening.
For some men though, periods of stress may accelerate an existing form of permanent hair loss like male pattern baldness. If your hair isn’t regrowing at desired levels, we offer surgical hair restoration options that can restore your hairline.
What Does it Mean When a Man Loses Hair?
Male hair loss is more the rule than the exception, and around 80 percent of men will experience some form of hair loss during their lifetime. Even though it’s an incredibly common issue, hair loss can have a psychological impact on those who live with it.
A full head of hair often is seen as a sign of youth, vitality, and attractiveness – so losing one’s hair can lead to declining confidence and self-esteem. Men who experience hair loss are more likely to experience depression and anxiety. In a cruel irony, depression or anxiety may further accelerate one’s hair loss… creating a vicious cycle.
How Can I Stop My Hair Falling Out Due to Stress?
The surest way to decrease stress-related hair loss is to lead a healthy lifestyle. Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, get adequate sleep, and lower your stress levels.
You may wish to consult your physician or a therapist to treat any underlying issues and to help you develop practices to reduce stress. In the meantime, we can address your hair loss with a variety of treatments to optimize your scalp’s ability to regrow hair.
Set Up a Hair Restoration Consultation Today
Reef Hair offers a full spectrum of treatments and transplantation options – including device-assisted ARTAS® and NeoGraft® procedures, as well as classic manual FUE and FUT transplants. Get in touch with us today to set up a consultation. We will perform a full hair and scalp analysis, as well as discuss potential treatments, so you can choose the right procedure to help you achieve the hairline you desire!
