How Hair Loss Impacts Your Psychological Health

Hair loss

Have you ever found clumps of hair coming out after using your hairbrush? For some people, this is a harsh reality, watching their hair gradually thin and give way to bald patches. This can be especially traumatic for younger generations as this means you will struggle with hair loss for most of your life. Hair loss has very real and potentially serious impacts on your physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. Luckily, those who are suffering from hair loss have options available to help restore the hair that has been lost. 

The team of experts at Kumar Aesthetics Institute provides a state-of-the-art hair restoration procedure to regrow and restore natural, thick, healthy hair! Our PRP Hair Restoration Therapy is scientifically proven and requires no downtime. We are proud to have helped so many of our patients grow real, natural hair that they can be proud of. That being said, our team understands how hair loss affects more than just your physical appearance, potentially damaging your psychological and emotional health as well!

The Harsh Psychological Impact Of Hair Loss

While hair may not be as important to some people, the vast majority of us are emotionally invested in our hair because of how central it is to our appearance. Throughout human history, the look and health of our hair have been attributed to a youthful appearance, genetic health, and strong and successful partners. Psychological issues associated with hair loss include 

Anxiety 

You may be wondering how hair loss can cause anxiety – well it helps to first understand anxiety itself. Anxiety is a feeling of worry and panic associated with negative, repetitive thought patterns and fear of future events. 

Hair loss is typically a gradually worsening condition that becomes more obvious over time. The realization that you are losing your hair can cause mild to severe anxiety as you worry about how you will look in the future. Because of the fact that you must receive some form of treatment to see positive changes, helplessly watching your hair disappear can invoke very strong anxious feelings that will, unfortunately, make you highly self-conscious. This 2015 study indicates that patients suffering from diagnosed hair loss will experience significant episodes of anxiety at least three times more than the average person.

Depression

After you have been struggling with your advancing hair loss, extended periods of anxiety and lowered self-esteem can result in depression or depressive episodes. Losing your hair can be a traumatic experience because it is such an integral part of our appearance and the way that we view ourselves. Research indicates that people suffering from hair loss experience a greater likelihood of developing depression.

When you don’t look like your normal self, you certainly don’t feel like your normal self. As your appearance continues to change or vary from the way you want to look, depression can become more severe and have consequences that actually impact the rest of the body.

Social Phobia and Avoidance Behaviors 

Hair loss can greatly affect your social life. Losing your hair can impact your confidence and deter you from putting yourself in social settings like meeting with friends or looking for a romantic partner.

Oftentimes, people will be so focused on their hair and appearance that they will avoid social events altogether. As is the case with many appearance issues, you will notice your hair more than anyone else and it is often the change in behavior that is the most noticeable.

Stress 

One of the cruelest symptoms of hair loss is stress because it becomes a vicious cycle! Hair loss causes stress, and stress is a known cause of hair loss. So the more you stress about losing your hair, the faster and more widespread your hair loss will be. According to the NIH, stress hormones impair the function of stem cells that are responsible for hair growth. 

We understand that ‘don’t stress and try to relax’ is much easier said than done, but it is important. Reducing stress overall is actually very important for your general health, as stress has very detrimental side effects in the long term.

Physical Impacts of Hair Loss

The most obvious physical change is in your appearance. Thinning or retreating hairlines and pattern baldness can dramatically alter your appearance. As mentioned above, some of the psychological effects of hair loss actually manifest into physical symptoms and side effects. Depression, anxiety, social isolation, and stress are all very serious mental health concerns that carry equally serious effects on your physical well-being. The list of physical impacts is a long one, with some of the most serious being:

  • Stress-induced hormone imbalance
  • Cardiovascular damage 
  • Exhausting your endocrine system
  • Extreme tiredness and fatigue

PRP Hair Restoration Can Help

Medicine and scientific advancement have developed highly effective hair restoration procedures that help patients regrow real, natural, thick hair! Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) is a derivative component of your blood that is loaded with growth factors that are essential for repairing and replacing damaged or dying cells in the body. This is how your body naturally repairs itself when injured. PRP takes this regenerative substance and super concentrates it for a greater effect. 

At Kumar Aesthetics Institute, we include PRP into our traditional hair restoration procedures to provide a restorative boost to your hair therapy! This can help hair regrow faster and healthier than other less effective treatments. 

Click here to visit our PRP Hair Restoration Page

PRP Hair Restoration Therapy Available in Franklin, TN

If you or a loved one are experiencing hair loss, you owe it to yourself to invest in hair restoration therapy! A full, healthy head of hair can restore your confidence, boost your self-esteem and allow you to finally feel like yourself again! Don’t let hair loss stop you from living the life you deserve! 

Call our office to speak with a member of our team or schedule an appointment online today!

Written by Kumar Aesthetics Institute