Psychological causes of hairloss

[ypul]

So I've been thinking about the causes of hair loss in a little more detail. One of the causes that often gets mentioned is stress without going much further. I've done some research from the perspective of some kinds alternative medicine and there seems to be a recurring theme that comes up that I wanted to share with all of you and get your ideas on, and if you are happy to do so, get your own experiences.

Basically from what I have read from others (and I can confirm this with my own experience) a lot of people who are affected went through a separation of some kind before hair started falling out. Most of the time this separation comes from being rejected by the preferred sexual partner/being dumped or something similar. Generally this is a very painful experience for the person affected.

For me this is exactly what happened, I was just finishing high-school and had no clue what I wanted to do afterwards, feeling completely lost. On top of all of that I told the girl that I fancied at the time how I felt about her. We had been pretty much best friend for the 1/2 year before that, but she was not interested in me. The reason why it was particularly painful for me was because I felt like she was one of the only people who was able to understand me and I had lost her from then onwards. About 2-3 weeks later I noticed how I started losing more and more hair.

How does your experience relate? I'd be interested in hearing from all of you to see whether this is something that affects more people at a wider scale. Please feel free to comment or send me a message, all comments are truly appreciated!

Thanks and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

 

[sachalamp]

Wouldn't surprise me really, I got rejected in 8th grade and it has stayed with me ever since (so a constant stress trigger, alongside other triggers, such as feeling inadequate in other domains), just about when my masturbation habit kicked into gear. Have always felt a fear of rejection of women and intimacy and it's probably what fueled my propensity for masturbation.

 

[Armando Jose]

Hi ypul

Sorry for your actaul situation.

You are right that hair loss can be related to stress, but in common baldness exist a special pattern,

Stress afects at all scalp hair not only from the top.

They are different issues

Have a nice day and a lot of luck

 

[ypul]

Wouldn't surprise me really, I got rejected in 8th grade and it has stayed with me ever since (so a constant stress trigger, alongside other triggers, such as feeling inadequate in other domains), just about when my masturbation habit kicked into gear. Have always felt a fear of rejection of women and intimacy and it's probably what fueled my propensity for masturbation.

Hi sachalamp, sorry to hear about you situation, thanks for sharing it though. Is that when your hair loss started too, or did that start later? I'm curious to hear other people's experience regarding stress factors, to see whether there is actually a common theme. Do you mind explaining a little what happened just before you noticed that you were going bald? Specifically I'm looking for anything that was hard for you from an emotional perspective.

Hi ypul

Sorry for your actaul situation.

You are right that hair loss can be related to stress, but in common baldness exist a special pattern,

Stress afects at all scalp hair not only from the top.

They are different issues

Have a nice day and a lot of luck

Hi Armando, no need to feel sorry, I've become accustomed to it. Do you know why hair loss caused by stress affects all the scalp? Why is there a difference. Also, if that is the case, why does the rest of the body hair not fall out?

Do you mind sharing what happened in your life during the weeks before you noticed?

A lot of luck to you too

 

[g.i joey]

Mine is actually pretty sad/weird, i thought i contracted an STD, particularly HIV after hooking up with a 34 year old women i met in a bar... i tripped out about that for a month straight, i was so worried because i got sick exactly 1 week after and i read online that thats how HIV presents itself, with a sore throat and flu like symptoms... now i realize how dumb i was to believe it but anyways. I tripped out about that for a month until my tests came in... I FELT SO RELIEVED when everything came back negative, i told myself id never be a hypochondriac about anything again. About a week later i noticed a thin spot in my hairline and it was KO from there on. I mean my hairdresser used to say "you have thin hair but so much of it! you'll most likely have a mature hairline soon" and this was when i was maybe 18-19.. i didnt pay any attention to it cause aesthetically my hair was fine.

 

[ypul]

Hi g.i. joey, thanks for sharing your story with me, I'm sorry to hear about how you felt and your current situation. I can imagine how relieved you must have felt after the tests came back negative! What do you think was the reason you started thinking about having contracted an STD? Also, how did the hook up end and how come? In my case I just felt really disoriented when I got rejected. How did you feel about the hookup/it only being a hookup?

 

[g.i joey]

Im glad it was just a hookup, she was some horny lady i met in a bar near my school who told me we could go hit her bong at her house... i didnt want anything more than a hook up out of it.. the worst part is i wore a condom but i was so set on her giving me something that i thought the dry humping couldve gave me something. TBH when i thought iw as doomed with HIV i couldnt even imagine looking into the future because i felt like i had ****ed up so hard that i couldnt even imagine my future anymore, its probably the most devastated ive ever been about something in my life! so i guess there was a sense of disorientation you could say

 

[sachalamp]

Hi sachalamp, sorry to hear about you situation, thanks for sharing it though. Is that when your hair loss started too, or did that start later? I'm curious to hear other people's experience regarding stress factors, to see whether there is actually a common theme. Do you mind explaining a little what happened just before you noticed that you were going bald? Specifically I'm looking for anything that was hard for you from an emotional perspective.

I began losing hair since 16 or 18, can't tell for sure, but it really kicked on by 18 anyway, I failed a chance to get a gf (i got none by the age of 18 and this one was literally throwing herself at me and one time i was supposed to kiss her I was so tensed I burst out crying, lol). So you can imagine that in general my anxiety around women was 1)pretty high, 2)continuous. On top of that I went to a college and everyone had high expectations of me, including myself, and I flunked it. There was also an underlying social anxiety I had since at least 8 years old. So for me on top of those 2 highs, a dose of continuous stress was also there for a long time. I was also getting sick quite often.

Mine is actually pretty sad/weird, i thought i contracted an STD, particularly HIV after hooking up with a 34 year old women i met in a bar... i tripped out about that for a month straight, i was so worried because i got sick exactly 1 week after and i read online that thats how HIV presents itself, with a sore throat and flu like symptoms... now i realize how dumb i was to believe it but anyways. I tripped out about that for a month until my tests came in... I FELT SO RELIEVED when everything came back negative, i told myself id never be a hypochondriac about anything again. About a week later i noticed a thin spot in my hairline and it was KO from there on. I mean my hairdresser used to say "you have thin hair but so much of it! you'll most likely have a mature hairline soon" and this was when i was maybe 18-19.. i didnt pay any attention to it cause aesthetically my hair was fine.

Not to be an *** or anything, I don't want to scare you, but HIV tests are usually relevant only when taken 6 months or something after... but anyway, chances of you getting something are infinitesimal anyway (it's pretty difficult to get HIV from PIV sex, it's usually contacted by unprotected a*** - that's why gay people are much more HIV positive), especially if you used a condom.

 

[g.i joey]

Not to be an *** or anything, I don't want to scare you, but HIV tests are usually relevant only when taken 6 months or something after... but anyway, chances of you getting something are infinitesimal anyway (it's pretty difficult to get HIV from PIV sex, it's usually contacted by unprotected a*** - that's why gay people are much more HIV positive), especially if you used a condom.

No worries bro, my doctor laughed at me when he asked why i think i got it and when i told him "dry humping" he told me i had nothing to worry about.. I kind of pushed it on him to make me get the tests, he understood i needed the peace of mind. He told me if i didnt go in raw i had nothing to worry about and the fact that im worrying about PROTECTED sex i was being ridiculous.

On top of that id had some tests done lately after breaking up with my girlfriend and this is at least 2 years after and all is well

- - - Updated - - -

yeah my Doctor also told me men have a smaller chance of contracting it from a woman, more likely for men to pass it on

 

[Armando Jose]

Do you know why hair loss caused by stress affects all the scalp? Why is there a difference. Also, if that is the case, why does the rest of the body hair not fall out?

Do you mind sharing what happened in your life during the weeks before you noticed?

A lot of luck to you too

Scalp hairs are different from body hairs, ..., scalp hairs are asynchronous for example.

Stress acts over all scalp hairs, trought blood vessels, not only in top hairs.

You are wellcome

 

[nataliawoj]

Stress is related with many human deseases. Hairloss is one of many side effects that is caused by it. Try to relax because anxiety and stress not only can cause to hairloss but and problem with heart.

 

[StevenLaventine]

Im glad it was just a hookup, she was some horny lady i met in a bar near my school who told me we could go hit her bong at her house... i didnt want anything more than a hook up out of it.. the worst part is i wore a condom but i was so set on her giving me something that i thought the dry humping couldve gave me something. TBH when i thought iw as doomed with HIV i couldnt even imagine looking into the future because i felt like i had ****ed up so hard that i couldnt even imagine my future anymore, its probably the most devastated ive ever been about something in my life! so i guess there was a sense of disorientation you could say

Chances that you get HIV are so slim. Add to that that it takes at least 6-8 months before you know you are infected. Also, I read somewhere that you get sick as hell in between 2 days to 2 weeks after you are infected (night sweat, headaches etc..)