Abstract

INTRODUCTION: World Health Organization (W.H.O.) defines health as a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being not merely an absence of disease or infirmity. Functional or psychological disorders are on a rise with the modernization and industrialization. In this study we have correlated anxiety and depression which are the two most important psychological diseases with four common hair disorders alopecia areata, androgenic alopecia, telogen effluvium and premature graying of hair.

BODY TEXT: We took five hundred cases between the age of  18 and 45 years, of the four hair disorders alopecia areata, androgenic alopecia, telogen effluvium and premature graying of hair and screened them for anxiety and depression by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score (HADS) for anxiety and depression. Scale is reprinted in table 1. We also analysed anxiety and depression in otherwise healthy population of same area after eliminating regional, age and sex bias and tabulated and compared the result. Data were analyzed by SPSS ver. 22.0 software, independent T-test, multi variate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and chi-square test for comparison the quantitative and ordinal data, respectively; with α < = 0.05.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION: There was significant correlation of anxiety and depression with the above four common hair disorders correlating with the p of value less than 0.05. Brain- hair follicle axis and stress-skin system are still being studied. Many theories have been given by studies in mice. Hereby, clinical implications of these theories corroborate with our study of five hundred subjects.

CONCLUSION: Any patient should be treated as a whole and skin and hair can be important signs of mental illness which decrease the quality of life and work efficiency. Hence, in common disorders like androgenic alopecia, telogen effluvium, premature graying of scalp hair and alopecia areata, a vigilant approach is needed to diagnose and treat anxiety and /or depression as well.