When rapper Honey Singh recently revealed that he had become “completely bald” during his struggle with bipolar disorder and the medications used to treat it, his story highlighted how mental illness can produce physical consequences. Hair loss is one of them. Certain mood stabilisers are scientifically associated with hair shedding but medication is one part of the story. Bipolar disorder can also disrupt sleep, alter hormone regulation, trigger chronic stress responses, worsen nutritional status and coexist with substance abuse, all of which can affect the hair growth cycle. Hair follicles function in cycles. Most scalp hair remains in an active growth stage known as the anagen phase, while a smaller percentage enters the resting, or telogen, phase before naturally shedding. Under severe physiological or psychological stress, large numbers of follicles can shift prematurely into the resting phase, leading to excessive shedding several weeks or months later. This type of hair loss usually does not permanently destroy follicles. Instead, patients experience diffuse thinning across the scalp, often noticing unusual amounts of hair on pillows, combs or …