Psychological effects of hair loss

Hair loss has become a silent epidemic, with results that are not exactly fatal but prove to have a strong psychological impact on the well being of a person. People suffering from hair loss can suffer from loss self confidence, decreased self esteem, anxiety and depression. In cases of hair loss due to burn, some patients can have suicidal thoughts. The effect of hair loss is more traumatic for women than men as women tend to rate themselves more harshly based on their appearance.

Effects on women

Women spend a good deal of time and money on their appearance with a major chunk dedicated to their hair. The fairer sex experience hair loss in the form of hair thinning.

Social Stigma

  • Patients who start loosing hair during teens suffer from social ridicule of friends and low self esteem. Studies have shown that even the academics get affected as they are always stressed out.
  • Middle aged women with sudden onset of hair loss, worry themselves sick with social expectations and usually start avoiding people and stop venturing out of the house.
  • With growing years, women believe that a healthy scalp, free of dandruff, harboring healthy hair will guarantee them better marriage proposals. Unmarried women can suffer from hair loss induced-psychological disorders such as low self esteem, loss of confidence and depression. Women believe their marriage prospects with normal hair are far better than those with thin hair.

Stress

  • Studies have also shown that women suffering form hair loss tend to eat their way out of stress. This results in weight gain, unshapely figure and bad skin which results in developments of inferiority complex. They become socially dysfunctional tending to stammer more during interviews and social gatherings, thus affecting their career and social life.
  • A lot of them accept that they are constantly worried about their hair and how unattractive the look. Few of them believe that their partner gives them less attention which affects their sex life.

Lack of styling

  • Women love styling their hair. With alopecia, they have limited hair styles to choose from.

Lack of awareness

  • Hair loss is far more accepted in men than women though it is common in both. Balding in men is taken as a sign of coming of age and symbolizes maturity but for women, it represents loosing their sheen and desirability. Family and friends may even humor the man, teasing him into acceptance but hair thinning in women has yet to be treated with a fair mind.
  • Since the public awareness about hair loss in women is still unappreciated, the psychological effects are more serious in them than in men.

Effect on men

Men react differently to hair loss than women. While some panic and start using all the therapies available in the market, others go into denial. Studies have shown that men with a history of genetic hair loss cope better with this disorder than men who have no underlying hereditary disorder.

End of youth

  • For men, balding represents aging and very few are able to accept this gracefully. While normal hair represents youth and virility, men mark alopecia as an end to their ‘young’ days.

Humiliation

  • Some men feel humiliated at the onset of alopecia as this makes them the butt of the joke within their family and friends. While some deal with it by shaving off the remaining hair, others end up being bitter, irritated and bad tempered.
  • Studies have shown that among men who suffer form hair loss, 75% of them suffer from loss of self confidence and low self esteem.

Social Stigma

  • Men on the younger side tend to develop a social phobia, keeping themselves away from social gatherings and meetings. They also feel that their chances of marriage prospects go down with onset of alopecia.
  • Men who suffering with alopecia, tend to marry earlier than men who have a healthy mop of hair as they feel that their chance of finding a good partner will decrease along with their receding hair line.

Stress

  • Men suffering from alopecia get stressed out with this problem leading to generalized anxiety disorder, depressive episodes and mood disorders.
  • If the person happens to be the only one with hair loss disorder among his friends or colleagues, he may start feeling isolated. This can lead to him being jealous of his peers.
  • In extreme condition, the person may suffer from hair loss to the point of setting into depression.
  • The productivity of men goes down during work as they are always too stressed out regarding their hair and appearance.

Change in appearance

  • Studies prove that men suffering from hair loss tend to improve their appearance by dressing better and exercising. This helps them restore their confidence. Some men even grow beard or mustache as they feel that this makes them look more hairy and distracts attention from their receding hair line.

In case of men, they deal with hair loss better when they accept it rather than feel ashamed of it.

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Filed under: Hair Loss by admin on Thu, June 17th, 2010
June 17, 2010

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