Psychology of Hair Loss in Women

Hair loss is a devastating event for women. Hair has long been a symbol of beauty, sexuality, strength, and youthfulness in feminine culture. Hair color, length and texture carry identity and play a vital role in a woman's decided character and uniqueness. Blondes have a stigma, as do brunettes and redheads and those with wild curls, and those with straight tamed hairstyles. Women are known to spend great care maintaining a full, healthy, lustrous head of hair that others will find attractive. Less often recognized is the hair loss many women will face with age.

How Hair Loss in Women Occurs

Female pattern baldness is the leading cause of thinning hair in women. Also known as androgenic alopecia, this condition manifests in a diffuse thinning over the top of the scalp as a result of aging and the hormonal changes that come with life.

It does not have strong genetic ties, as does its male counterpart. Other causes of hair loss in women include:

• Traction alopecia (especially African American women)
• Telogen effluvium
• Hormone imbalance
• Pregnancy
• Stress
• Vitamin/Iron/Folic acid deficiency
• Poor blood circulation
• Trichotillomania
• Untreated thyroid dysfunction

Any of these additional causes might also exacerbate an existing female pattern baldness diagnosis. By the age of forty, 50% of women will suffer some degree of hair loss.

Emotional And Psychological Outcomes of Hair Loss In Women

If the pressure society puts on being thin isn't enough, many women have to suffer the emotional and psychological consequences of losing their hair.

In accordance with the earlier acknowledgements about women's hair and identity, a woman losing her hair will often feel like she is losing a part of herself. She feels her beauty, sexuality, strength, and youthfulness become diminished. However, the truth is that her self-esteem is drastically lowered; she fears she is unattractive to others, she feels a loss of control, and she experiences unbearable anxiety. Hair loss in women often results in depression and impaired social functioning.

What's worse is that some treatments known to successfully stop hair loss in men are contraindicated in women or can't be used while pregnant. However, those suffering female pattern baldness or any hair loss condition must realize that there are other treatments remaining. There are temporary and permanent, non-surgical and surgical options for restoring hair or giving the illusion of a full head of hair. It may require time and research, but losing your hair doesn't have to inhibit your life.

Source: http://health.ezinemark.com/psychology-of-hair-loss-in-women-18e2ed31b30.html

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