That said, depression, stress, and other mental health conditions often have a far-reaching health impact. Many experts agree mood symptoms and emotional distress could play a part in thinning hair. However, stress-related hair loss typically isn't permanent.
Hair loss due to depression or other mental health conditions is generally treatable. Most of the time, once we learn how to cope with stress and the psychological effects of depression, our hair will start to re-grow.
Stress and hair loss don't have to be permanent. And if you get your stress under control, your hair might grow back. If you notice sudden or patchy hair loss or more than usual hair loss when combing or washing your hair, talk to your doctor.
The good news is that this type of hair loss is not permanent. Generally speaking, people will recover completely without any outside assistance in about six months once the medication is discontinued.
Do antidepressants cause hair loss? As the name implies, antidepressants are medications used to treat depression. Side effects linked to these drugs include insomnia, nausea, and dizziness, but hair loss (alopecia) is a rare reaction.
The hair loss is temporary, and should return to its pre-effluvium density, although this process is generally slow. It can take months (but generally less than 6) before the shedding stops, and then months to years for lost hair to grow back at the sluggish rate of ~½ inch per month.
Anxiety, OCD, and bipolar disorder have been known to cause hair loss. The disorder Trichotillomania creates an irresistible urge to pull out the hair from your scalp, eyebrows, and other areas of the body.
Telogen effluvium hair loss — the type of hair loss linked to stress — typically affects your scalp and may appear as patchy hair loss. However, it can also cause you to shed more body hair or notice less hair on your body than you normally would.
Excessive hair loss from stress typically stops when the stress stops. Hair will likely regrow to its normal fullness in 6 to 9 months without any treatment.
Thankfully, technology has advanced so that you can actually grow your own hair back with a minimally-invasive, more heavy-duty treatment. With a follicular unit extraction (FUE) treatment, surgeons can transplant viable hair follicles and implant them in bald spots.
There's no cure for depression, but there are lots of effective treatments. People can recover from depression and live long and healthy lives.
Drug-induced hair loss usually occurs within the first 3 months of the treatment [12]. In addition, other antidepressant medications may cause telogen hair loss too. Fluoxetine is the most common SSRI causing hair loss [13].
Although the hair will grow back, continued anxiety and stress can cause the hair loss to continue leading to different patches of hair and baldness. Telogen Effluvium (TE). This is the second most common form of hair loss.
When victims suffer from PTSD, their stress hormones will not go back to normal levels, and they are constantly in that flight-or-fight state of mind. Hair loss can be a result, and it typically occurs three months after the stressful situation.
Telogen Effluvium:
If your stress levels increase enough, your body may place your hair follicles into a resting period of the hair growth cycle. Those hairs then have a greater chance of falling out when combing or washing your hair.
Compared with bupropion, all other antidepressants had a lower risk of hair loss, with fluoxetine and paroxetine having the lowest risk [hazard ratio (HR)=0.68, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.63-0.74, HR=0.68, 95% CI: 0.62-0.74, respectively] and fluvoxamine having the highest risk (HR=0.93, 95% CI: 0.64-1.37).
Another side effect that some people report while taking a sertraline treatment is temporary hair loss — which may show up as bald patches or overall hair thinning. Sertraline-related hair loss is not common, but it can happen.
Medication-induced alopecia is an occasional side effect of many psychopharmaceuticals. Most of the mood stabilizer and antidepressant drugs can lead to this condition. Some antipsychotic and antianxiety agents induce alopecia.
Hair loss is a relatively rare side effect, but a variety of medications may cause it: beta-blockers, blood thinners, antidepressants, cholesterol-lowering drugs, certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and hormone-related drugs like thyroid meds, hormone replacement therapies or steroids.
Certain medications – like antidepressants or acne treatments – can affect your hair in a number of ways, including changes to texture.
Lifestyle factors could include using certain hair products, wearing your hair up too tightly, experiencing high stress levels, or not getting enough of certain vitamins and minerals in your diet. People who have immune system deficiencies could also have thinning hair.