Stress doesn’t just show up in your skin, sleep, or mood; it also shows up in your shower drain. If you’ve been finding more hair in your brush or on your pillow, you’re not imagining it and you’re not alone.
In fact, a 2023 cross-sectional study found that women who reported being stressed were roughly three times more likely to experience hair loss than those who weren't, and the effect was even more pronounced with severe stress.1
In that same study, 78.2% of women reported experiencing hair loss, compared to 51.9% of men. In other words, this is an incredibly common, and incredibly real experience, especially for stressed out women.1
How stress causes hair loss
The most common type of stress-related hair loss is when a large number of hair follicles shift out of their growth phase and into a resting phase all at once.2 But here’s the confusing part: While a large number of hairs may shed all at once (which as those of us who have experienced it can attest, is alarming, to put it mildly), there is often a bit of a delay between the “stressor” and the shedding. According to Mayo Clinic, this delay is pretty common, and it can make it more difficult to diagnose the cause as stress.3
Stress can also show up in less obvious ways — an immune response causing patchy shedding, or an urge to pull at hair without meaning to. Any major life event can trigger it: a big move, an illness, lack of nutrients from an eating disorder, the constant mental load that is living in our modern society, a loss, a new baby, even a fad diet or GLPS1s. The commonality here is that these things all put stress on the body and raise cortisol levels.
“When cortisol levels stay high, hair follicles may switch from growth mode into a resting phase,” explains Dr. Melissa Piliang, MD in the Cleveland Clinic article on hair loss.2 “That can lead to increased shedding seen days, weeks or even months later.”
Piliang points out that hair growth also takes up a lot of energy and nutrients. When the body is receiving the message, over and over, that something is wrong, it will divert some hair-growing resources to protecting vital organs instead.
“It’s a matter of priorities,” says Dr. Piliang. “Hair isn’t essential for your survival. Your organs are.”2
Common stressors behind hair loss
Like we said, “stress” isn’t always as obvious as a hard time with relationships or work. It can show up in less obvious ways as well, like2:
- Rapid weight loss
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Illness
- Surgery
- Poor sleep
- Smoking
- Alcohol use
Signs your hair loss is stress-related
Hair shedding can be caused by changing hormones, radiation, medical conditions, aging, or even certain hairstyles.4 But there are some tell-tale signs that the shedding is due to stress, rather than something else5:
- More hair shedding than usual in the shower or on your brush
- Thinning across the entire scalp
- Hair feels lighter and less dense overall
- No bald patches or receding hair line, like pattern baldness
- No round bald spots
- Other signs of stress: trouble sleeping, increased anxiety, changes in appetite
What is DHT?
Stress is not the only thing that can trigger hair loss. As we mentioned, medications, illnesses, and quite commonly, changing hormones, can cause shedding. One of the main culprits here is a hormone called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. DHT is a byproduct of testosterone that both males and females produce.6 When DHT levels are too high — again, in people of either sex — this can cause hair follicles to shrink, shortening the hair’s growth phase. This leads to thinner hair, usually in specific areas like around the temples.6
Extending the growth phase and reducing shedding
Hair loss can come from stress, or high levels of DHT, or commonly (and unfortunately) some fun combination of the two. No matter the cause, most approaches these days share the same goal: extending the time each hair spends actively growing, and reducing how quickly it sheds. This can look like a combination of things: Better sleep, stress reduction techniques like meditation, exercise, yoga, spending time in nature; a healthy, nutrient-rich diet, and adding in a hair supplement formulated to target these things from the inside out.
Saw palmetto is a hair care ingredient you’ve probably heard of by now; it gets a lot of buzz for preventing testosterone from converting to DHT. Well, allow us to introduce you to Serevelle™, a highly concentrated ingredient derived from saw palmetto — and if you’re experiencing hair loss, your new best friend.*
How Serevelle™ blocks DHT
Serevelle™ is a clinically-proven, highly-concentrated bioactive fatty acid derived from saw palmetto. In fact, it’s the most potent DHT-blocking ingredient on the market today, as it targets the enzyme responsible for follicle miniaturization, extends the hair growth phase, and reduces scalp stress all at once.*
It is one of several powerhouse ingredients in Uro Hair Growth + Volume. Aside from Serevelle™, this latest bit of wizardry from O Positiv includes Holy Basil, an adaptogen that is well known for reducing stress, so supporting a healthier environment for hair to thrive; and it’s packed with nutrients shown to help with scalp and hair health including biotin, iron, folate, vitamins B12, C, D & E, zinc, and selenium.*
Hair growth supplement: one piece of the bigger picture
As we briefly mentioned before, taking a daily supplement like URO Hair Growth + Volume can help with shedding, but it’s important to approach the issue holistically.*
Whatever the underlying issue, it’s something you’ll need to address. Adding a supplement in without addressing the cause of the issue is like watering a wilting plant without checking out the soil. The water will help, sure; but if the soil is the real problem, the plant is never going to thrive.
Talk to your doctor, a dermatologist, or trichologist if you’re concerned about excess shedding and find out if a daily supplement like URO Hair Growth + Volume is right for your specific situation.
