Emotional Stress And Hair Loss

One of the reasons for the recent hair loss problem may be due to stress and they mostly are related. Hair loss is actually a side effect of excessive and intensive physical or emotional Stress. When people are going through a stressful event or period, they may begin to notice that their hair starts to thin and eventually hair loss occurs. In such conditions, the hair follicles often stop growing prematurely when the body system incorrectly treats the hair follicles as foreign tissues, thus resulting in thinning of hair and eventually dropping out.

Hair loss due to emotional stress is quite a common problem these days. Life of every people seems to be playing on fast forward, and no matter how fast they run, they just can not seem to catch up. All of the people have heard stories about the rich stockbroker who suffered hair loss due to stress before his 30th birthday, but things become worst when it happens to an individual.

Excessive emotional stress or physical strain often from injuries, illnesses or surgery can cause hair loss. There are normally two major kinds of hair loss due to stress; one is Telogen Effluvium - Apart from having a really cool Latin name, this is the most common and less severe form of hair loss due to stress. Basically the types of hairs stop growing and then proceed to fall out some 2 or 3 months later. Hair re-growth can also occur within the proceeding 6 to 9 months, so this should be only a temporary form of hair loss due to stress. As long as people have identified the cause of their stress and taken action to relieve it, then hopefully this problem can sort itself out.

Another is Alopecia Areata - This type of hair loss problem due to emotional stress is a little more serious as it is thought to be an autoimmune disorder in which T cell lymphocytes cluster around the hair follicles, resulting in inflammation and subsequent hair loss. An environmental condition such as emotional stress or a pathogen is thought to combine with hereditary factors to cause the situation. Because this causes bald spots on the scalp, especially in the first stages, it is sometimes called spot baldness. In 1%-2% of cases, the condition can spread to the entire scalp (Alopecia totalis) or to the entire epidermis (Alopecia universalis).

The hair strands may grow back on but certain treatment may also be required. While hair loss due to emotional stress may be quite common, it is necessary to identify why people may be suffering from stress. People need to take a long hard look at their life over the last 6 months to a year, and try to identify any major changes or stressful events that may have taken place. Sometimes the effect of emotional stress on the bodies and health can be subtle as stress often builds over time and we often don't notice until someone tells them or their body tells them, in this case through hair loss. One of the most common causes of mental stress these days is either work-related or money-related, and these will often filter through and damage other areas of life like the relationships, the ability to sleep well, appetite and diet.

• Janny Raines
• 17/02/2009, 12:59 PM
• 0 Comments