depression

[w_teflon]

i was wondering if being depressed and stressed out can cause thining to your hair line? because know that i look back i noticed my little thining while stressing myself out with something and has continued for close till a year. it seemed like it happened so fast,with closing up on a year can not wear my hair high any more beacuse i notice the difference. is this normal that in about a year this can happen to someone. im 20 and going berserk.

[w_teflon]

i was wondering if being depressed and stressed out can cause thining to your hair line? because know that i look back i noticed my little thining while stressing myself out with something and has continued for close till a year. it seemed like it happened so fast,with closing up on a year can not wear my hair high any more beacuse i notice the difference. is this normal that in about a year this can happen to someone. im 20 and going berserk.

[gillenator]

w teflon,

 

Yes there is such a condition as stress alopecia. Unmanaged stress in our lives that goes untreated typically for a year or longer can result in what appears as blotchy or patchy spots of hairloss throughout our scalp. Generally speaking, people who do not have androgenetic alopecia (genetic hairloss) experience this type of patchy loss, not necessarily their hairline. What occurs is the acute stress levels cause some hair follicules to transcend into the telogen (resting) phase. Once the stress is brought under management, the follicules cycle back into the anagen (growth) phase and the lost hair grows back and the barren patches fill back in.

 

What about those of us who do indeed have androgenetic alopecia and suddenly a very stressful event goes unmanaged? The added stress can compound or "advance" what we were predisposed to lose ahead of its genetic timeclock. In those cases one can see the eroding of their hairline in much quicker time frames and other areas in their scalp as well.

 

W Teflon, I want to encourage you to deal with your situation without getting too personal with you. Might your stress be related to your genetic hairloss? If so, there are lots of advice and encouragement we can offer you right here in this community. I believe I responded to one of your other posts earlier so I do remember you as a newcomer and want to welcome you to this forum, however at the same time I do respect your privacy regarding any personal issues. We are all here to help!

[Robert_]

w_teflon,

 

Stress-related hair loss is a condition called telogen effluvium and isn't usually caused by "everyday" stresses such as work or home life. It it most often triggered by sudden and extremely severe physiological and/or emotional events.

 

However, even in most cases where the hair loss sufferer swears that a certain event took place that caused an abrupt loss of hair, what they perceive to be the culprit of their hair loss (stress from a particular event) has actually just heightened their awareness to the fact that they were already thinning. This has been proven to be a typical psychological reaction.

 

I looked at previous posts by you and I noticed that you had previously believed that you were thinning as a result of some medication that you were taking. Did you stop taking that?

 

You are on the right track by asking questions. Your questions make a lot of sense and they are ones that every hair loss sufferer has asked at one time or another. I suggest that you speak to that dermatologist that you are thinking of seeing and getting their professional opinion as to what is going on up there. They can also tell you if you are a good candidate for available FDA approved hair loss medications such as Finasteride and Minoxidil.

 

Here is a link to a page that may help you entitled Why Me?

 

And here is a link to a page that deals specifically with myths about hair loss so you can see what is most probably NOT causing it.

 

I wish you the best of luck and I hope you keep us informed of your progress.

 

-Robert

[gillenator]

w teflon,

 

Robert provided you the correct technical term telogen affluvium. TA is considered as "dormant shedding" and would affect more than 10% of one's scalp. In a normal situation approximately 90% of the hair is in an anagen phase and 10% in telegon phase. We lose approximately 100 hairs from our bodies each day, not all necessarily from the scalp. If you are noticing more than 10% of your hair shedding (more than 100 hairs per day), then it's very possible you have this as Robert pointed out. In addition, please be advised that the early "onset" of androgenetic alopecia can produce this temporary TA condition as early as late teens to early 20's in men.