It seems supremely unfair that anyone who has gone through the trials of a divorce should also be at increased risk for hair loss, but that is exactly the conclusion that has been found by new research. Particularly for women, divorce was found to be one of the strongest predictors of midline (central) hair loss. What did the researchers believe was the reason for the connection? In a word: stress.
So, are people who choose to divorce doomed to lose their hair? No, of course not. But their risk of hair loss could increase, especially if they do not handle the stress of divorce in a healthy way.
Pittsburgh divorce attorneys noted from news reports on the research that other big risk factors for women were excessive drinking and smoking. Since these habits are also closely linked to stress, it simply re-emphasizes the importance of being able to deal with stress in order to avoid physical side-effects.
For men, divorce increased the risk of hair loss, but not at the high rate it increased the risk for women. With men, the biggest risk factors were overexposure to the sun and a lack of exercise.
So why don’t men who divorce have as high a risk of hair loss as women who divorce? The researchers speculated that men must typically process the stress of divorce in different ways than women, and that this alternative approach to stress leaves them with a lesser risk of hair loss.
Without a doubt, a healthy approach to stress can have not only mental but physical benefits.
Source: U.S. News & World Report “Could Divorce Trigger Hair Loss in Women?” Sept. 21, 2011
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