..."Hair loss, as it occurs with telogen effluvium and androgenetic alopecia, provokes anxieties and distress more profound than its objective severity would appear to justify. This reflects the profound symbolic and psychosocial importance of hair. Stress has long been implicated as one of the causal factors involved in hair loss. Recently, in vivo studies in mice have substantiated the long-held popular belief that stress can exert profound hair growth-inhibitory catagen-inducing and hair-damaging pro-inflammatory effects. Insights into the negative impact of stress on hair growth and the integration of stress-coping strategies into the management of hair loss disorders as well as the development of new pharmacotherapeutic strategies might lead to enhanced therapeutic modalities with the alleviation of clinical symptoms as well as the concomitant psychological implications."...

http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v123/n3/full/5602462a.html


The only thing I don't like about this article is the inference that "coping with hair loss" and "accepting hair loss" are the same thing. Isn't that the same as giving up? Or maybe that's how I'm reading it. According to this study, my coping strategies are mal-adaptive (negative, angry, etc....) :-(

Well I think accepting it is a baby step towards coping and in turn managing stress better. That's the key really, learning to better deal with anxiety, because stress and modern life go hand in hand. Although I've finally accepted it I'm sure as hell not giving up on fixing it.

Thanks for posting that. I fully believe that stress has a very negative impact on hair, and I dont think they meant coping and accepting as being the same thing, although maybe they are. If I could accept every shed hair as not being a sign of 'hair loss' then I think I'd also be coping with it.