Psychological Characteristics of Alopecia Areata and Androgenetic Alopecia in Women

This study aimed to evaluate the psychological aspects of female patients with alopecia areata and androgenetic alopecia. The researchers compared these patients to normal healthy controls and found that the alopecia groups had higher levels of anxiety, depression, and alexithymia compared to the control group. Specifically, 94.2% of alopecia areata patients and 97.0% of androgenetic alopecia patients had severe depression. The study also found differences in psychological characteristics between the two types of alopecia, with androgenetic alopecia being more influenced by genetic and biological factors. The researchers concluded that psychiatric interventions are needed for depression in both types of alopecia, and considerations for personality and psychological defense mechanisms are necessary.