Can stress really cause hair loss?

If you’ve noticed more hair on your pillow or in the shower and have been under a lot of stress, it’s natural to wonder if the two are linked, and you may well be right. Stress can absolutely cause hair loss (1). We all know that stress can take its toll on the body, and our hair isn’t spared.

However, not all hair loss is caused by stress, and knowing the difference matters. Understanding what’s really going on can help you protect your hair and choose the right treatment if needed.

How stress affects hair growth

To understand how stress impacts your hair, it helps to first understand how hair growth actually works. Your hair doesn’t grow all at once. Each strand on your head follows its own growth cycle with four main stages:

1. Anagen (growth phase): Hair grows actively from the follicle for several years.
2. Catagen (transition phase): Growth slows and the follicle begins to shrink.
3. Telogen (resting phase): Hair stays in the follicle but no longer grows.
4. Exogen (shedding phase): Hair naturally falls out to make way for new growth.

Under normal circumstances, about 90% of your hairs are in the growth phase at any given time (2). But when the body experiences significant stress, this balance begins to shift.

Stress hormones such as cortisol rise. Helpful in short bursts, but not when stress becomes chronic. Persistent high cortisol can push a higher number of hairs into the telogen phase prematurely. A few months later, those hairs shed all at once, leading to noticeable, sudden thinning.

Telogen effluvium: when stress leads to hair loss

This stress-related type of hair loss is called telogen effluvium. It usually appears around three months after a stressful event and can last for six months or more. Many different forms of stress can trigger this type of hair loss, including (3):

• Emotional stress, such as bereavement, relationship breakdown, major life changes
• Physical stress on the body (illness, surgery, or high fever)
• Hormonal changes, including pregnancy or childbirth
• Medication changes or stopping hormonal contraception
• Extreme dieting or marked weight loss

The good news? Telogen effluvium doesn’t damage the hair follicles permanently. Once your stress levels stabilise and your body recovers, new hairs usually begin to grow back on their own.

How stress can make other types of hair loss worse

Stress can cause temporary shedding on its own, but it can also worsen or trigger flare-ups of other hair loss conditions. For example:

• Alopecia areata: An autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks hair follicles. Stress is a known trigger for new patches or worsening hair loss.
• Trichotillomania: A condition where a person feels an urge to pull out their own hair, often as a coping mechanism for anxiety or stress.

It’s also worth mentioning male pattern baldness. This type of hair loss is driven by hormones and genetics, not stress. However, chronic stress can still interfere with the normal hair growth cycle, making existing baldness appear worse by adding shedding on top.

Stress-related hair loss or male pattern baldness?

It’s not always easy to tell whether hair loss is caused by stress or a condition like male pattern baldness, especially since stress can make other types of hair loss more severe. But there are a few visual clues.

• Stress-related hair loss (telogen effluvium) usually causes even thinning across the scalp (3). You may notice more hair in the shower or that your hair feels less full overall. The scalp stays healthy, and growth typically returns once stress settles.
• Male pattern baldness (androgenetic alopecia) follows a clear pattern: temples, crown, or receding hairline. It progresses gradually and is driven by sensitivity to DHT, not stress.

That said, ongoing stress can cause additional shedding, making it seem like sudden heavy hair loss. In that situation, both stress-related shedding and DHT-driven thinning may be happening at the same time.

Will stress-related hair loss grow back?

In most cases, yes. Hair lost due to stress (telogen effluvium) usually grows back once the underlying trigger has passed. Hair grows slowly, at around 1 cm per month on average.

While you can’t speed up regrowth overnight, you can support healthy recovery by:

• Eating a balanced diet rich in protein, iron, and vitamins.
• Managing stress through exercise, mindfulness, or therapy.
• Getting enough sleep and avoiding smoking.
• Speaking to a clinician if hair loss persists.

If stress has worsened something like male pattern baldness, treatments such as Finasteride or Minoxidil may help protect and regrow hair follicles.

When to speak to a clinician

It’s normal to shed a little hair every day. But if you notice more than usual, or feel self-conscious or concerned, it’s worth checking in with a healthcare professional.

At Oxford Online Pharmacy, our UK-registered clinicians can help determine whether your hair loss is temporary stress shedding or something else, and guide you toward effective treatments.

References

1. NHS. Hair loss [Internet]. nhs.uk. 2017. 
2. Macmillan Cancer Support. Hair loss - Macmillan Cancer Support [Internet]. www.macmillan.org.uk.
3. ‌British Association of Dermatologists. Telogen effluvium [Internet]. Bad.org.uk. 2020.