If you're experiencing hair loss while grieving, know that you're not alone. While this hair loss can be alarming, it's normal and, typically, a temporary condition that resolves on its own.
With telogen effluvium, it is common for hair to grow back within 3 to 6 months after the cause has been dealt with. Sometimes, the rate of shedding slows down but does not stop entirely. In most cases, no more than 50 percent of the hair is lost.
Emotional stress can also trigger a specific type of alopecia, called alopecia areata. This is characterised by sudden bald patches on the scalp, which can spread to cover the entire head. Again, hair loss caused by alopecia areata is not permanent and often grows back, although sometimes treatment is required.
Not only does grief completely turn your life upside down, but it also plays havoc with your outward appearance, too. The activation and prolonged experience of the fight or flight response can result in dull and dry skin, which is exactly what I experienced.
Hair thinning and perceived hair loss also has a very important negative impact on the psyche of the individual. The common emotional aspects associated are self-consciousness, embarrassment, frustration, and jealousy.
Yes, stress and hair loss can be related. Three types of hair loss can be associated with high stress levels: Telogen effluvium. In telogen effluvium (TEL-o-jun uh-FLOO-vee-um), significant stress pushes large numbers of hair follicles into a resting phase.
“The imprint of trauma doesn't 'sit' in the verbal, understanding, part of the brain, but in much deeper regions- amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, brain stem – (similar to the grief response) which are only marginally affected by thinking and cognition.
Sufferers are unable to move forward or resolve their feelings. Their sense of sadness deepens, and daily living is severely disrupted by their absorption in mourning. Estimates are that between 10 and 20 percent of those who lose a loved one will experience an extended period of complicated bereavement.
As an extreme stressor, grief can lead to heart-related issues, aches and pains throughout the body, lowered immunity, digestive problems, insomnia, and so-called “brain fog.” How these symptoms affect different people can vary widely.
Telogen effluvium is a common type of hair loss that affects people after they experience severe stress or a change to their body. Symptoms include thinning hair, usually around the top of your head. Treatment exists to reverse hair loss, but hair will typically grow back in three to six months without treatment.
If you've lost hair as a result of stress or anxiety, there's every chance it will start to grow back once your stress levels are back to normal. Try working on reducing your stress levels as well as improving your general health and wellbeing. Any hair lost due to stress should grow back on its own in a few months.
Although scientists don't fully understand why, stress can alter the natural growth pattern. Telogen hairs may fall out at a faster rate and the anagen period may shorten, causing hairs to fall out more frequently. A woman with telogen effluvium may lose up to 70% of the hairs on her scalp due to the impact of stress.
Stress can cause hair to gray prematurely by affecting the stem cells that are responsible for regenerating hair pigment. The findings give insights for future research into how stress affects stem cells and tissue regeneration.
Two years on
For most people their mourning period is a long process and it can take years. After about two years you are likely to know the places, events and occasions that trigger your emotions. As you start to know these, you will also learn what helps you to cope with them.
Stress hair loss, or telogen effluvium, looks like hair falling out quickly from combing, washing, or even just touching the hair. The hair on the scalp may be thinning, but the scalp looks healthy and does not have scales or rashes.
Cumulative Grief
Also known as grief overload or bereavement overload, this can be one of the more difficult forms of grief to recover from. Compounding loss can result in a feeling of “I just can't do this anymore.” But with the right therapy and guidance, you can move through all types of grief, including cumulative.
What is the hardest stage of grief? Depression is usually the longest and most difficult stage of grief. Depression can be a long and difficult stage in the grieving process, but it's also when people feel their deepest sadness.
In general, death of a child is the most difficult kind of loss, and bereaved family members are at elevated risk for depression and anxiety for close to a decade after the loss. In addition these parents are at risk for a range of physical illnesses.
Lung. The lungs bring oxygen into the body and remove carbon dioxide. In TCM, this organ is believed to be connected to grief and the following conditions: Emotions: Grief, sadness, and detachment.
Emotional Trauma Symptoms
Psychological Concerns: Anxiety and panic attacks, fear, anger, irritability, obsessions and compulsions, shock and disbelief, emotional numbing and detachment, depression, shame and guilt (especially if the person dealing with the trauma survived while others didn't)
For some people, the tremors are big movements in the muscles. For others, they are tiny contractions that feel like electrical frequencies moving through the body. TRE® is not painful—in fact, most people enjoy the sensations.
'Studies have shown that people who have dealt with traumatic experiences in the past are more likely to deal with hair loss issues like alopecia areata in the future.
TELOGEN EFFLUVIUM
If the body experiences some sort of trauma or shock, as many as 70 percent of scalp hairs may shed — but the effect isn't immediate, Friese shares. Instead, the loss usually manifests about two to three months after the 'trauma' occurs.
Because Telogen Effluvium is a symptom of trauma, grief and stress, it is a temporary form of hair loss that can last between 6 to 9 months. There are cases where Telogen Effluvium can last longer if the stress and trauma is ongoing.