Could Stress And Anxiety Be Causing Your Hair Loss?

Has your hair started to thin out following a stressful life circumstance, like a divorce, job loss, a traumatic event, or the loss of a loved one? If so, you may be wondering if there’s a connection between this physical sign and the psychological stress or anxiety you’re experiencing. While it’s not the root cause in every case, it is possible for chronic stress or anxiety to contribute to hair loss. Read on to understand how this works and what you can do if you suspect you may be experiencing stress-related hair loss.

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The science of hair loss and growth

To understand how stress can cause hair to fall out, it can be helpful to learn a bit about the biology of hair growth. Every head and body hair is rooted in the deeper layers of the skin and surrounded by a sheath of skin and tissue called a hair follicle. Cells inside the hair bulb, located at the base of the follicle, rapidly divide, harden, and bind together, forming a tube that lengthens into an individual strand of hair that will eventually grow up and out of the skin.

Under typical circumstances, a hair follicle will cycle through three phases:

• Anagen, the “growth” phase in which hair follicle stem cells are activated and new hair is formed
• Catagen, the transitional stage when hair stops growing, detaches from the follicle, and begins to hair shedding occurs
• Telogen, the “resting” phase during which the follicle prepares to generate more tissue for when it reenters the anagen phase

The follicle will typically remain in the telogen phase for around three months. After that, it will return to the beginning of the cycle, regenerate the cells lost in the catagen stage, and start making another hair.

You’ve probably noticed that you’re always shedding a few hairs in the shower, for example, even when the coverage on your head remains constant—and this cycle is the reason why. Periodically detaching hairs and then regrowing new ones helps your follicles remain healthy.

How stress can affect the hair growth cycle

Stress or anxiety-induced stress that is extreme and/or chronic can disrupt the healthy cycle of hair growth and loss described above. This is because the activity of human hair follicles is controlled by a wide range of different hormones—one of which is corticosterone, also known as cortisol. 

Sometimes referred to as a “stress hormone”, cortisol affects a wide range of functions in the human body, including metabolism, memory, and immune system function. Your body often produces higher levels of stress hormones like cortisol when you’re agitated or anxious. This production appears to trigger a wide range of biological stress responses. One of which may be hair loss.

About 85% of the hair on a healthy scalp at any given time is anagen hair, but stress can cause up to 70% of anagen hair to suddenly move into the telogen phase, causing noticeable hair loss. This can happen to anyone, regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity. This excessive shedding of hair is referred to as telogen effluvium.

Recognizing the signs of stress hair loss

Hair thinning or loss can occur for a variety of reasons—so how do you know if what you’re experiencing is due to stress or some other factor? It’s generally best to consult a doctor if you want to be sure. That said, telogen effluvium due to stress has a few distinct features that may help you spot it.

Unlike some other types of hair loss, stress-related hair loss tends to be distributed across the entire scalp. You likely won’t experience patchy hair loss or notice a receding hairline if the root cause is telogen effluvium. Instead, it generally causes even, widespread thinning of the hair. If anything, it may be somewhat more pronounced at the top of the head. Telogen effluvium doesn’t usually result in total baldness; in most cases, 30–50% of the scalp is affected.

Second, you can check if the onset of telogen effluvium corresponds to when you experienced very high stress levels. When you’re under severe stress and your body receives a surge of cortisol, many follicles can be flipped into the telogen phase at once. This likely won’t lead to hair loss immediately, though, as each hair still has to slowly die off and fall out after that point. That means the effects usually show up two to three months after whatever life changes or situations prompted your increased stress. 

Other ways stress and anxiety can cause hair loss

Though telogen effluvium is the most common type of stress-related hair loss, it’s not the only one. Another example is trichotillomania, a mental health condition that falls under the category of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders that’s categorized by people obsessively plucking out hairs from their bodies. Over time, this hair pulling can lead to significant thinning of scalp, eyebrow, and/or facial hair. Though the exact causes of this disorder aren’t completely understood, stress and anxiety appear to exacerbate symptoms.

Another related disorder is alopecia areata, sometimes shortened to AA. It’s an autoimmune condition in which a person’s body attacks healthy hair follicles, creating irregular bald patches. Stress is known to affect immune system functioning, and there’s a fair amount of evidence that it can trigger episodes of AA. Relieving psychological strain won’t necessarily cure this type of hair loss, but it may help reduce its impact.

Finally, a number of mental health conditions that cause the body to frequently engage in the stress response could also result in hair loss. Generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and others have been noted for their potential to cause or contribute to telogen effluvium or AA. That’s why speaking with a doctor and/or therapist can be helpful if you’re aiming to get to the root cause of this issue.

What to do when stress is affecting your hair

If you’re noticing hair loss and believe it may be due to stressors in your life, it will likely help to find new ways to relax and address your mental fatigue. Of course, this may be tough advice to follow, since losing large amounts of hair can be stressful all on its own. That said, incorporating some of the following techniques and strategies into your routine could help.

Consult a doctor 

Uncertainty about what’s going on with your body can be a significant source of stress. That’s why it may be best to start by making an appointment with a physician, who may be able to help you pinpoint the cause of your thinning hair or find a way to promote hair growth. Even if they identify it as stress-related, having an answer for why this may be occurring could help give you some measure of calm.

Eat nutritious foods

Telogen effluvium may be made worse by certain kinds of nutritional problems, such as an iron deficiency. That’s why eating a diet rich in protein, nutrients, and vitamins can make it easier for your body to regrow your hair. Vitamin B6 (found in foods like chickpeas, salmon, poultry, and leafy greens) and zinc (found in foods like oysters, dark chocolate, eggs, spinach, and mushrooms), for example, may be especially helpful. Plus, eating a nutritious diet could also have beneficial effects on your anxiety and stress levels in general.

Exercise, especially outdoors

Various studies over the years have indicated a correlation between regular aerobic exercise and a variety of physical and mental health benefits, including potentially reducing stress. 20–30 minutes of exercise per day could be enough to make an impact on your stress levels. It’s also worth noting that natural surroundings seem to have a positive effect on how much stress a person feels. That’s why spending time outdoors in general may help contribute to feelings of calm, especially when combined with exercise.

Listen to music

Another strategy to try if you find yourself facing chronic stress is to incorporate music into your regular routine. Research suggests that exposure to music you find relaxing—whatever genre that may be—may help reduce cortisol levels more substantially than when engaging in relaxation without music. If you have a pair of headphones, you can listen to whatever type of music you find calming from virtually anywhere whenever you’re looking for a bit of relief.

Meditate

Mindfulness meditation, in which participants observe thoughts, sensations, and emotions without judging them or trying to control them, has shown promise in supporting mental health. For example, a 2020 meta-analysis suggests that this type of meditation noticeably decreases cortisol levels in people living in stressful conditions. Practicing meditation for as little as 10 minutes per day may be enough to help you find some peace.

Speak with a therapist

Sometimes, dealing with stress in a healthy way may require learning how to think and respond differently to the situations you’re facing. Research indicates that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may help with this. Numerous clinical trials have suggested that CBT can help alleviate the symptoms of many different stress-related conditions, including generalized anxiety, depression, bulimia, and fibromyalgia. If you’re experiencing hair loss due to stress, CBT may help you learn more effective ways to cope in an effort to reduce this and/or other symptoms.

If you’re experiencing high levels of stress, it may mean you already have many demands on your time. In cases like these, the thought of having to travel to and from in-person therapy appointments could seem overwhelming. Attending therapy online instead via phone, tablet, or computer from the comfort of home can represent a convenient solution. One of many studies on the topic suggests that internet therapy can be a beneficial treatment method for many different psychological challenges, and it reports no evidence of any difference in effectiveness between online and in-person formats. That means that you can feel confident in choosing virtual therapy if it’s more convenient or comfortable for you.