How and why does hair loss affect us emotionally?

Finding out that your hair is thinning and is never going to return is a shock to most people. Everyone believes that they are going to maintain the hair they were born with, and the reality of living with hair loss can be emotionally challenging. Losing hair is not just down to the genes that are inherited, but it can be caused through stress as well as many other factors.

Emotional Impact

Losing hair can cause issues as people understand that they are going to lose their youthful appearance. It is a fact of life that everyone wants to look the best they can, but it is easy to understand how people can feel vulnerable. Living in a body-conscious society, there can be dissatisfaction with the image portrayed by hair loss. The changing hairline can change the look of a face completely. Studies reveal that younger people losing their hair are more affected emotionally than older people. The hair loss and change in image can cause low self-esteem, which can cause significant distress.

Loss of Personal Attractiveness

With this change in image comes the loss of personal attractiveness. Hair is seen as an essential part of looking attractive to others, and having this taken away from them triggers a fear and a vulnerability that leaves people feeling like they no longer stand out. It is often usual for people to feel embarrassed with their hair loss. After all, it does make people look different to others, and in studies, it has been found that almost 75% of men with hair loss feel less confident. This is a shocking figure, but add that to the fact that at some point in their lives, six out of ten men will be teased.

Psychological Effects

In some extreme circumstances, it has been known that people can feel depressed as they realize that hair loss is something they have no control over and its effects cannot be reversed. Living with the fact that they will be classed as bald for the rest of their lives leaves people dealing with anxiety as well as jealousy. Jealousy stems from seeing others who appear to be happy with full, healthy heads of hair, so it is relatively normal for some to feel some kind of envy.

Social Impact

Social life can be affected: hair is one of the first things that is noticed when meeting others, and this ties in with the body-conscious issue, as we all do our utmost to look our best when meeting people. Those people who have issues with hair loss will decide to reduce their appearances at social events, and some will go as far as to completely stop. This will have a knock-on effect in other parts of their lives, such as losing friends or even losing a job.

Medical Attention

It is a sad fact that hair loss is essentially ignored by doctors as an important medical problem, as it is well known that the problem can cause deeper issues that could be easily resolved.

If you have any more questions or need further clarification, feel free to ask!