Been dealing with a lot and need a change - what are the Pros and Cons of cutting my hair during this time?

@UpAndDownAllAround

I had horrible insomnia before starting treatment for bipolar a little over a year ago, and pretty much since we hit a dose that helps stabilize the swings my hair has pretty much stopped growing the last 6 months (my GP told me we can look into my concerns of hypothyroid at my next appt), so I have a slight idea...

I've more or less used my beard as a gauge of my mental health over the years, spending months growing it out and then shaving it down to a small goatee repeatedly just because I wanted change, or letting everything grow wild and not trim because I really didn't care. At least my beard hasn't stopped growing the last 6 months.

My thoughts are that if you were happy with shorter hair, and not going to be upset in a couple weeks if/when you swing, it might be worth a change. It gives you a chance to hit reset and rebuild again. But I also know a few women that have spent years growing it out and are proud of it. One of those women cut off 2 feet of growth and was bothered by having short hair that they were now unable to "do anything with".

While I can't possibly sympathize with the bipolar aspect, I've gone through something similar a few years back that had a massive affect on my own insomnia and GAD. I spent the entirety of high school growing my hair out so that I went from having a-little-longer-than-chin-length hair at the beginning of freshman year to having hair all the way down to my butt by the time I graduated. My plan was to chop it all off after I graduated, start fresh once I started college, but I hesitated for a few months because the thought of cutting it all off was incredibly nerve-wracking. After all, I had spent so much time growing it out and I hadn't gotten a haircut in years, I had grown unfamiliar with living life any other way than with my super long Rapunzel hair and with all the changes that I was already dealing with (between starting a new school and my dad starting a very dangerous new job), I wasn't sure if I was ready to make such a big change with my own body. Ultimately, however, I decided cutting it was what I needed to do. I still miss my long hair sometimes but I found that in that instance, during that period of my life, chopping my hair off ended up being the better choice for me, personally, because it meant my hair was one less thing I had to worry about it. Gone were the days of waking up to it looking like a rat's nest and spending twenty minutes trying to brush all the knots out, or worrying about it getting caught in car doors (which did happen a couple times) or sitting on it. It was a huge weight off my shoulders, both figuratively and literally, and while it took some time to get used to, was a worthwhile change, I think. So, I mean, cutting your hair short again might be a relief like it was for me. Plus, it might give you a little boost of confidence, as well, and help you feel better about yourself. On the down side, it could be a bit difficult to get used to but the silver lining is that there are options to help make the transition a little easier. When I chopped my hair off, I ended up buying some clip-in extensions off Amazon so that if I ever was really missing my long hair to the point where it was driving me insane, I could just clip the extensions in and revisit my old hairstyle for a day.