Dallas, TX , United States, 10/17/2021 / Top Wire News /
Kristin Auble writes in Vogue that she brushes the loose hairs off her pillow once she wakes up and then proceeds to take a cool shower, delicately washing and conditioning her hair with personally customized products from Prose before letting the hair air dry. She further writes that she is not alone as female hair loss is on the rise in today’s high-stress, mid-pandemic world that we live in.
Although initially thought to be a men’s issue, hair loss affects approximately 40% of women by age 50, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. Even Though a high number of females suffer from hair loss; most are so embarrassed that they never go to a doctor. There is no information to explain why male hair loss is discussed so openly, while women suffer in silence.
Women have been under societal pressure to have long hairs since biblical times as the phrase “crowning glory” is thought to originate from 1 Corinthians 11:15: “if a woman has long hair, it is a glory unto her.” A healthy head full of hair has been associated with femininity, fertility, beauty, and youth since times immemorial.
In Victorian times, long hair was so highly prized in art, literature, and popular culture that people used to believe that hairs hold a woman’s magical powers, and also contain her vitality. So, this comes as no surprise that women feel they are losing a vital part of their identity if they happen to shed more hair than normal. Board-certified dermatologist Dendy Engelman says “I have had more women break down in tears in my office when talking about hair loss than when discussing a cancer diagnosis.”
Kristin talked with Dr. Gillian O’Shea Brown LCSW, Psychotherapist and Adjunct Professor of Trauma at New York University to better understand the symbolism of female hair and the traumatic effect that losing it usually happens on the female psyche. Dr. Gillian says that “I have seen firsthand the link between stress and hair loss,” further adds “Anything that negatively affects our mind, emotions, or body can affect our hair. I have treated clients who in the past have undergone a really stressful time in their life and then months later start to notice thinning of the hair or the development of hair loss. Trauma not only impacts mental health, but also deeply impacts physiological well-being and overall health.”
When hair thinning is caused due to a traumatic event, the person must not only deal with the initial trauma of the event that causes hair loss, but also with the trauma associated with hair thinning and hair loss. Kristin further writes that although she can’t exactly pinpoint the exact moment when her increased shedding started, she does remember when she first noticed it. She was dealing with the grief of losing loved ones, feeling scared and unsure about the state of the world, and also experienced a complete culture shock after moving away from her beloved New York City.
Source: https://www.vogue.com/article/shedding-light-on-shedding-how-i-navigated-female-hair-loss
Source: Story.KISSPR.com
