By Mhia Vignoulle
Stress is largely self-inflicted, and when left unmanaged, it can quietly morph into anxiety. Once that line is crossed, it can be hard to find your way out, which is why awareness and prevention are extremely beneficial.
A few months ago, I had the unfortunate pleasure of experiencing intense hair loss. When this occurred, I panicked. It all seemed so sudden. I didn’t know what was going on or how to stop it. So I decided to make a stop at the GP, expecting to be told that I was simply missing iron or some other nutritional supplements. I was hoping for a quick fix, but instead, I was told that medically, there was nothing wrong with me. What I was experiencing was an intense amount of “merely” stress, which was causing my hair to fall out.
This infuriated me. It had been building up quietly inside of me, and I had no idea.
What I have come to learn during this time is that trying to manage, diminish, and control stress is far more complex than I expected.
Now, four months later, the hair loss continues — but so does my understanding. And what I’ve realised is: I’m not alone.
According to Harvard Health, nearly one in three women experiences some form of hair loss during their lives. The Cleveland Clinic points to stress as one of the most common causes in women. Before my experience, I hadn’t understood how profoundly stress can affect the body, or how hard it can be to heal once symptoms emerge.
Why Are We So Stressed?
This journey led me to ask a bigger question: What’s fuelling all this stress, especially among young people?
To explore this further, I interviewed university lecturer Wendy Sloane. Someone who works with youths every day, and through years of work, has seen firsthand the shift in students’ mental health.
“Students’ mental health has certainly declined, especially since Covid – she explained. Students are struggling now more than ever, in part due to the cost of living crisis and rising tuition fees, which can add stress to an already stressful university existence.”
Sloane also highlighted the fact that students who must juggle work and university tend to struggle a lot more, especially international students without a close support system nearby.
“The problem is, many students suffer silently. Lecturers often don’t know what’s going on beneath the surface, and it’s easy to make assumptions.”
This conversation made me realise how many of us are walking around carrying invisible weight, experts at masking what we’re going through.
The Physical Toll of Stress— and How to Cope
Stress is not just a mental burden—it impacts every system in the body. For women, the effects can be particularly far-reaching, influencing reproductive health in profound ways. Chronic stress has been linked to irregular menstrual cycles, reduced libido, fertility challenges, complications during pregnancy, and even long-term reproductive disorders. It can also affect the health of the baby during gestation. This makes early recognition and management of stress not just beneficial but essential for overall well-being.
According to the American Psychological Association, there are three key strategies to help manage stress effectively: maintaining a strong social support network, engaging in regular physical activity, and ensuring you get enough sleep each night.
But above all, it’s important to remember that stress is a natural emotion, and just like all other emotions we experience, it is meant to be felt, not erased. The body can handle stress in small doses. But when it becomes chronic or constant, it begins to wear us down — emotionally, physically, and even socially.
If you are experiencing extreme or chronic stress, a licensed psychologist can help and offer the tools needed to cope, heal, and rebuild balance.
Stress might be silent, but it doesn’t have to go unnoticed.
