Can Anxiety Cause Hair Loss?

Posting Date: 04/30/2001

Julie: I had some anxiety problems in January. I thought I was having a heart attack, but I had all of the stress tests, the blood work, the chest x-rays, and the EKGs and we determined it was anxiety.

Now in April, I?m starting to lose my hair; not in big clumps, but when I wash my hair in the morning and check my hands, there is hair all over my hands. Is that a normal reaction? Is it hormonal? I?m 43. I?m wondering if even some of these anxiety things are hormonal. I?m probably a little young for the change.

Dr. Dean: The hair loss can happen after major stress or anxiety. There is a delay of three or four months, and that would put you into the range. And it can be severe; I?ve seen women almost lose all their hair. The good news is it comes back. It?s important to recognize anxiety as a cause of hair loss.

I don?t want to assume it?s from the anxiety; I?d hate to see you miss a case of alopecia or male pattern baldness. All kinds of things can happen in a woman that can cause hair loss. You should see a dermatologist. The doctor will pluck some hairs out of your head, look at them under a magnifying glass and then he can tell you what?s going on.

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