Hair & Stress

[fluffypuffy]

As anyone who's ever been stressed out in their lives knows, stress can have a big effect on your hair. After gaining some thickness last year, lots of upheaval in my academic and personal lives has left me stressed (and unfortunately, taken it's toll on my hair). If anyone has any experience with these sorts of things, how do you
limit the effects of stress on your hair?

[UpNorth]

Oh, I guess it is quite impossible without limit stress. Maybe some supplements, I would say magnesium as it helps you sleep and calm down a bit. At least, try to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night, it is very important for your overall health and hopefully makes you normalize your cortisol (stress hormone) levels a bit, it also helps with focus. And make sure you sleep in a pitch black room.

Try to limit your intake of all kinds of sugar, as it can mess up your cortisol as well.

Stress is so powerful. You could do everything right, but if you are constantly stressed out everything will be ruined.

[arcane]

I lost over an inch in thickness last year due to stress. And then I was stressing out over my hair. The best advice I've seen here is to really ignore your hair for awhile. That helped me not to worry so much. I didn't check my thickness for about 9 months, and through other changes I've gained back 3/4 of an inch. I haven't noticed any patches on my scalp hair but I have patches of body hair that also fell out and still hasnt grown back.

As for how to help your hair, try to destress. Take time for you. Try to eat right, sleep enough. I didn't find taking vitamins did anything to slow my shed, but taking time to pamper the hair I still had helped me relax a bit and made me feel like I was doing something.

[MissAlida]

I second the magnesium. It has a calming effect. I'm a student, and I have tests, and finals all year round. The last 3 years have made my hair shed so bad, that I couldn't grow it past BSL without it looking ridiculously thin. Don't think in terms of your hair. Think about your overall health first. Try to stay calm, try to relax from time to time, read a book, listen to music (classical is the best), do some meditation. Like arcane said, pamper your hair and body, but try not to put to much emphasis on hair. i have tried 2 anti-shed shampoos, one of which did reduce my shedding a lot. But it's not a final cure. I still have to keep my stress, and my toughts under control.

[Lauram]

Try doing something relaxing everyday, just to help your mind destress. A bath, take up a new hobby, read, shop. (I knit). It's nice to just do something mindless. Stress can be something that lingers even though the stressful situation is gone.

[PetuniaBlossom]

I agree, stress is a major contributor to hair loss. Lots of good suggestions here already. I'd just add the two things I did when I had a massive shed last year.
First, I had been Conditioner Only washing for several months, realized the increased shedding had started at the same time, and immediately switched back to CWC, taking care that the conditioner never touched my scalp. That solved most of the problem.
Second, I dug out my Homedics sleep machine, which plays soothing sounds (ocean, brook, summer night, etc.) and use it constantly, not just at night. The sounds take me to a happy place where there is no stress and I just know that has to be good for overall well-being, including hair. I can visualize my hair just growing and becoming stronger when I tune in. Hey, works for me!

[jacqueline101]

Stress is evil on the whole body. I've been stressed and my hair has shed more.

[RileyJane]

Wow, I was just thinking about this! I try to just get rid of the stressful feeling by either: workin out, screaming for a min, tanning (ik ik) or sit in my room in dead silence and meditate. Meditation really does wonders, even just . Mins

[firegypsy]

Honestly B vitamins are more essential than magnesium in times of stress, though magnesium is wonderful too. But in times of stress your body burns through B vitamins at a rapid pace. Biotin is a B vitamin and essential to hair health. It's not the only one either. So nutritionally I'd just make sure you're getting adequate protein, a good amount of B vitamins and magnesium.

You can also look into iodine, which as a supplement can be excellent for hair health. Herbally I also love horsetail for the silica content. :)

[tigereye]

I go through "stress thinning" every December/January, because of the 1st Semester exams in mid-january. Funnily enough, I don't seem to go through it in the May/June exams - I think having a little more sun helps massively to keep me sane.
For me, the only thing to do is to try to limit stress. That means having a good 8 hours of sleep every night - going to sleep in a dark room at the same time every night, and getting up at the same time every morning. Black-out blinds help keep the light out in my city flats and I have big, heavy curtains at my parents house, even though its in the country, and dark anyway.

The other thing I've found is that with exam stress, I stress out less if I go to a quiet little cafe, with an iPod of my "happy music" (which I update regularly to prevent boredom) to listen to and a hot chocolate or caffeine-free herbal tea to sip slowly while I study (not coffee, or regular tea - the caffeine, makes me stress out more, which is not only bad for my hair, but doesn't help my studies either). Studying at home, or in the library does nothing for my stress levels, so a little cafe-study session is a nice calming way for me to do things, as it's more like a treat, but I still get stuff done.
If it's stress from just trying to do too much at once, then I usually write down the things that absolutely have to get done, and by when, then note the things I would like to do. I try to plan one day/night a week to just chat/meet with friends, but go tee-total on both alcohol and caffeine until the stress levels are down again. I try to walk from one place to another if I can - another reason I go out to a cafe to study. Even in the freezing temperatures and snow we have here at the moment, a little burst of fresh-air, and being around normal people can make a big difference to how I feel.
Even with emotional, non-work, non-uni-related stress (I've been through a lot of grief in the last few years) the things that help are plenty of fresh air, eating plenty fresh fruit and veg, being around friends and other people, an in-control work and uni life, and a personal restriction on alcohol to no more than 4 alcoholic drinks for a big night out, or 2 for a regular night out with friends.

When I'm not stressed, I do let go of the alcohol restriction after a couple of weeks of feeling better, though, so it's not a permanent thing.

Well, at least, thats what I do. Being honest, there is nothing specifically I know of that will improve the effects of stress on hair, other than reducing stress overall. Being honest, my hair is thick anyway, so the thinning I get still only puts it into the normal range. If its any consolation, it doesn't seem to stunt my growth length-wise, and the thickness comes back with a little time. I'm generally more concerned about how my skin freaks out and becomes even more sensitive than usual. My hormonal acne, which is usually under control, also has a tendancy to go crazy on me if I get stressed, and then I end up with scars to deal with.

I don't know if any of my suggestions would be helpful to you. I just know what helps me, but everyone is an individual. I hope you can manage to de-stress and get your hair back to normal.


ETA: I definitely agree with RileyJane by the way. Meditation really does do wonders. I meditate most nights shortly before I go to bed. It calms me down, and de-stresses me, and helps me sleep easier. If I'm feeling awful, I'll do it at any point in the day. I just take five minutes and meditate to some calming music (I have a 5-minute piece of music I can meditate to, so I don't go over, but can still calm down).

[marioma]

As anyone who's ever been stressed out in their lives knows, stress can have a big effect on your hair. After gaining some thickness last year, lots of upheaval in my academic and personal lives has left me stressed (and unfortunately, taken it's toll on my hair). If anyone has any experience with these sorts of things, how do you
limit the effects of stress on your hair?
the key is not going to bed stressed , before sleeping exercice , read a book /comics :D , drink a cup of milk ..and get everything out of your head
also having a good friend who listens to your problems relieve stress a lot , surround yourself by kind people who wont judge you but help you instead is very liberating , the last thing for me learning to trust my god gives me peace ...good luck :))))

[torrilin]

As anyone who's ever been stressed out in their lives knows, stress can have a big effect on your hair. After gaining some thickness last year, lots of upheaval in my academic and personal lives has left me stressed (and unfortunately, taken it's toll on my hair). If anyone has any experience with these sorts of things, how do you
limit the effects of stress on your hair?

Not get that stressed.

Yeah, I know, not real helpful. But I'll become physically ill with asthma attacks, allergy attacks and panic attacks ages before stress can get to my hair. My body is really oversensitive to stress, and it just doesn't work right if I don't take good care of it. This is really a fairly common way for bodies to act, tho the exact stuff that goes wrong when you're overstressed will vary. Figuring out what your early warning signs are and listening to them is a really good idea.

[UpNorth]

I have experience of severe stress as well. Which led to anxiety, depression, apathy and memory loss. When school finally had finished, my mum forbid me to work for 6 months, and even though I had no stress left in my life, the sympthoms of it didn't disappear until one year later. And I was lucky. My aunt is still recovering, after 15 years.

[Vrindi]

Honestly, chanting. Chanting regularly keeps me calm and focused so even when things go nuts around me, my body doesn't react in the same way it used to. I eat well and exercise, and that's great too, but chanting every day is the one thing I can say for sure WORKS in any circumstance.