While countless memes and posts credit outgrown layers and split ends as the impetus to wield scissors after months of salon closures, there are deeper reasons behind the sudden influx of #quarantinecuts.

The truth is, many people — whether they know it or not — are seeking more than a simple trim.

 From claiming control and processing trauma to engaging in playful experimentation or chasing the thrill of a “rebellious” act, there are multiple emotional and psychological triggers that prompt someone to make such a spontaneous change.

Take Meghan Montaner, for example. The director of education for a performing arts theater in Northborough, Massachusetts chopped more than six inches off her hair in a spur-of-the-moment cut a few weeks back.

“It was just a couple days before my birthday and I was tired of feeling cooped up,” she says.

 “My husband had gone out to run an errand, I had gotten my son to bed and I had 30 minutes to myself. I took a shower, put a sheet on the floor, grabbed the scissors, and that was that.”

 

 

Montaner says the cut came, in part, from a desire to break up the monotony of life under quarantine, which Dr. Diller says is a common response to experiencing a long period of isolation.

But Montaner’s move paid off in other ways: not only was she pleasantly surprised by the final look (“My hair looks better now,” she says), but she’s also riding a high of accomplishment from successfully pulling off something she’s never done before.

 “I think it was surprising what a positive experience it was for me to cut my hair and how much better I felt in that moment,” Montaner says.

 “It's kind of liberating in a way because I was able to do something, affect something, change something.”

For some people, their hair is part of who they are. It is their identity.

This is especially true for women.

Women with long hair should take the time to think and consider before cutting their hair.

Whether they realize it or not, their hair is a part of their identity and drastically cutting it short can make them feel lost.

A drastic hair cut, even though it was a conscious choice, can promote a loss of self. 

Women often cut their hair during life changes.

While this may be true for men as well, it is a common scenario for women.

Ending a relationship, new career, graduating school, moving to a new city, overcoming a hard time…these are all huge life experiences that can make women want to cut their hair short.

It may feel like a way to reinvent themselves or a way to step into a new chapter as a newer version of themselves.

Regardless, most women will agree that they have booked an appointment with their hair stylist during a time like this.

Sometimes we feel grief after chopping our hair off.

As we’ve discussed, cutting your long hair can be a magnificent transformation.

It can be a great way to say goodbye to the old and embrace a new you.

However, there is often an experience of grief after cutting your hair off.

Because our hair is a part of our identity, making a big shift like this can take some getting used to.

The feeling of grief often comes from idea that we are letting go of who we used to be and moving into a new phase of life. 

Remember, hair is just hair.

We put a lot of pressure on the hair on our scalps.

At the end of the day, hair is just hair. It is not who we are inside.

While it is important to have a hair style that makes you feel happy and confident, it is not everything.

We must promote the happiness and confidence within ourselves as well.

Our hair can be taken from us in an instant.

It might be because of sickness or the side effects of medicine.

It might be a mental disorder or a bad experience with a product.

It could be any reason. We can lose our hair but we must work hard to not lose ourselves so easily.