Stress Causes Hair Loss, Acne in Women

Stress can manifest itself physically, and those physical symptoms of stress can increase your feelings of stress, causing a terrible cycle. If you’ve ever felt that your own anxiety was causing you to break out or go gray, you might not be that far off base. Because the body reacts to stress by increasing production of the stress hormone cortisol – a fight or flight hormone that humans do not necessarily need in the abundance it can be produced – people suffering from stress may experience physical symptoms as a result.

Increased cortisol levels can cause the body to produce extra oil, making even those with perfect skin have breakouts as if they were still teens. Worse yet, stress is a major cause for hair loss in women. Then, when the hair grows back in, it often grows in without color, increasing the number of gray hairs on your head.

The best way to combat the physical destruction that stress can cause is to make sure you build stress reduction activities into your daily life. One of the best things you can do, according to both medical and mental health professionals, is exercise daily. Exercise is the one effective way to help manage cortisol levels. Your body releases the cortisol in preparation for fighting or fleeing; when you do neither because the stress is not life-threatening, the cortisol simply wreaks havoc on your body. Exercising can help by giving your body the physical outlet it needs.

If you are already suffering from the physical symptoms of stress, like acne or hair loss, you can protect your skin and hair by taking cooler showers, using detergent free soaps and shampoos, and focus on reducing stress through exercise, healthy eating, sleeping at least 8 hours per night, meditation, and addressing the causes of your stress.

Shadra Bruce is a contributing writer for Mental Health News.