Existential psychotherapist Sara Kuburic agrees with the need to feel in control as a large motive behind emotional haircuts. She shares that it “can also boost our confidence and make us feel better about ourselves. A hair change can mark a new beginning or be symbolic of letting go (literally).”
"When you feel poorly, it is natural to make changes to your external body in the hopes that it will make you feel better internally as well," Berman told InStyle. "There is something about a drastic cut that can feel cathartic after a break-up, like you are cutting off the dead weight and becoming lighter and freer."
Trichotemnomania: obsessive-compulsive habit of cutting or shaving the hair.
The emotional shedding process
A breakup or other traumatic experience are common times for us women to cut their hair as we see it is the one thing we can take immediate control of; we all know it is often a struggle to adjust our feelings and move on right away.
Hair holds emotional weight and memories, so much so that cutting it off can be a form of letting go of those memories that hold trauma, and a tool of empowerment.
“As such, when women go through times of transition or crisis, they will often cut off their hair. It is symbolic of letting go of the past, getting out of our hair whatever has been troubling us, cutting old ties and lightening the load to go forwards into a new future.”
Haircuts have a direct impact on mental health. A 2016 report from the Australian Institute of Male Health and Studies suggests that men, especially, might find wellbeing benefits from a visit to the barber.
Its not abuse to insist on a short and sober style for a boy. However girls should be discouraged from cutting their hair, and it's abuse to cut it very short. Shaving the head as a punishment is a form of abuse. Legally, cutting off a person's hair without permission generally counts as assault.
It's a way to exercise some control when other things seem to be outside of our ability to influence. This is why many women cut their hair after a significant change in their life. It's an attempt to take charge, to be the one calling the shots for a change.
Grooming is a form of abuse that involves manipulating someone until they're isolated, dependent, and more vulnerable to exploitation. Grooming itself is not listed as one of the 10 categories of harm in The Care Act.
And according to Gilboa, some parents who employ shaming are genuinely trying to instill consequences. “However, humiliation tactics such as hair-cutting debase children without imparting lessons and can damage the relationship between parent and child,” she says. “What does cutting a girl's hair actually teach her?”
feel isolated — disinterested in the company of family and friends, or withdrawing from usual daily activities. feel overwhelmed — unable to concentrate or make decisions. be moody — feeling low or depression; feeling burnt out; emotional outbursts of uncontrollable anger, fear, helplessness or crying.
Hollywood psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo agrees that male break-up hair can mean many things. A shaggier do is a sign that a guy is “freed from the constraints of a committed relationship and ready to return to a more carefree, adolescent-like time”. A sleeker haircut, meanwhile, sends a message of transformation.
Some of the mild to severe symptoms of associated psychological problems with hair loss are: anxiety, anger, depression, embarrassment, decreased confidence, reduction in work and sexual performance, social withdrawal, and suicidal tendencies.
In times of distress, we may seek different means of escape, such as a major haircut, instead of recognizing how making a drastic, and possibly regrettable, change to our appearance will only give us a fleeting sense of agency, argues Newman.
Studies have shown that cutting one's hair (especially when going through a traumatic life change, such as a breakup) can provide a sense of control and emotional release. Changing one's hairstyle can also be a powerful tool in helping redefine or solidify one's identity. Even a simple trim has mental health benefits.
“I've found that people typically have an impulse to cut their hair after they've experienced stressful situations, positive or negative, where things have felt somewhat out of their control,” said Dr. Lauren Appio, a psychologist and career coach in Manhattan.
There are also some common-sense reasons that someone might cope with a relationship breakdown by hitting the gym. A breakup can feel disorienting. Working on a revenge body, Flowers says, is partly a control issue. It may be an illusion of control, but “it's a way of feeling like I'm doing something.
Wellbeing coach Kamran Bedi says these changes in style reflect deeper identity crises that can occur around a split. “For some people, an end of a relationship can lead to a deep self-reflection around their own identity,” he says.
Why do we change our hair following a breakup? A hair change can signal four possible emotional responses; a loss of control, an avoidance mechanism, a desire for reinvention or a confidence boost craving.
Psychosis is characterized as disruptions to a person's thoughts and perceptions that make it difficult for them to recognize what is real and what isn't. These disruptions are often experienced as seeing, hearing and believing things that aren't real or having strange, persistent thoughts, behaviors and emotions.
People experiencing a nervous breakdown may dissociate or have suicidal thoughts. Unable to perform the activities of everyday life, they usually require treatment from a mental health professional. A nervous breakdown may last for days, weeks, months—even years.
Cutting off one's hair is subconsciously a symbolic attempt to take control of one's thinking and make a change. It's therefore possible for hair hacking to be a symbolic “cry for help” from the subconscious mind.
An employer with at least 15 employees cannot force you to cut your hair or remove your facial hair if you hold the religious belief that you are not permitted to do so. By forcing an employee to cut their hair against their religion, an employer may be in conflict with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.