India, Aug. 6 -- You wash your hair and the drain tells a story you weren't ready for. More strands than usual. Then more the next week. You think back and realize it started about two or three months after a difficult period - a job loss, a illness, a breakup, or just a season of relentless pressure. This is one of the most common and least understood patterns in hair loss, and the good news is that it usually isn't permanent.

Hair doesn't fall out the moment stress hits. There's a delay, and that delay is what confuses most people.

Under normal conditions, your hair grows in cycles. Each strand spends years in an active growth phase before transitioning into a resting phase, and eventually falling out. When your body goes through sign...