To make the answer simple: yes, stress can cause hair loss. “Significant stress can lead to shedding and hair loss,” board-certified dermatologist Christine Shaver, MD, FAAD of the Bernstein Medical Center for Hair Restoration in New York City tells mbg.
Stress causes an increase in the hormone cortisol (which is why it is called the “stress hormone”). When excess cortisol is present in the body, it can wreak havoc – with hair, it can force the hair to enter and remain in the resting (telogen) phase as nutrients are redirected to other, more vital areas of the body. (It’s actually a survival mechanism.)
This was shown in a recent study in mice, where researchers studied corticosterone levels (which is the equivalent of our own cortisol) in relation to hair growth. They found that chronic and prolonged stress meant that the mice hair follicles remained in resting phase1.
However, you may not notice this hair loss right away. “When there is a lot of stress, the hair starts to fall out 3-6 months later,” explains Shaver. “It will continue to shed until the underlying cause of the stress has been addressed and resolved,” she says.
One of the hardest parts of hair loss is the cyclical pattern: stress leads to hair loss, which can lead to more stress, more loss, and more. This is why stress management is so important; more on that in a moment.
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