A student lost all of her hair within just two months as a result of stress from her upcoming university exams. 

Katie-Anna Moore, 20, previously had a thick head of mousy blonde hair, which she called her 'pride and joy'.

But in the run-up to her summer sittings at Bournemouth University, she began to go bald.

In March this year, while in the shower, she was putting shampoo on her hair before a whole handful came out.

Small clumps would then come out each time she washed her hair and within just eight weeks, 70 per cent of her locks had gone.

Assuming it was just a natural loss from overusing her straighteners, she did not mention it to anyone - but the shedding continued.

Within two weeks, other people began noticing, and she would find her clothes covered in stray hairs. 

After visiting her GP following the end of her exams, Miss Moore was diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease where bald patches appear on the body or scalp.

Her doctor told her the condition was most likely stress-induced and warned it was likely she would lose the remainder of her hair.

The archaeological, anthropological and forensic sciences student said: 'I looked like an old man with a comb-over at 20 years old. It was heart breaking and destroyed me.

'I was crying all the time and didn't want to talk to my friends or tell the university what was going on.

'I got more and more self conscious about it until I stopped going to classes completely and wouldn't socialise with friends for a month.

'The fact it happened so fast meant I didn't have enough time to process each stage.

'When I walked, my ponytail would swish from side to side. I used to always get complimented for it.'

At the end of April, Miss Moore escaped to her fathers house in Salisbury, Wiltshire, telling him she needed space to study.

A couple of days into her stay, Danny, 45, noticed her hair falling out.

She said: 'I had my hair in a ponytail and my dad walked behind me and said "Katie, you have a bald patch".

'That was it. I burst out crying. It's a cycle because once you start stressing out, more hair falls out - which then causes more stress.'

In mid-May Katie-Anna went to see her GP, who did numerous blood tests but could not find anything medically wrong with her apart from low iron levels, which she had always had.

Desperate to disguise her bald patches – which by now had even sprung up on her hairline - she went to her hairdresser who gave her a short cut.

And with her new haircut, she felt ready to return to university. 

But even with her exams out the way, she was still experiencing constant hair loss, prompting her to escape back to her father's house.

She said: 'I was ringing my mother every day for advice as she is my best friend.

'Then I went back to my GP surgery and as soon as I took my hat off, the doctor's face said it all.

When the doctor revealed she had alopecia areata Miss Moore burst into tears.

She couldn't believe she was losing her hair at what was supposed to be the prime time of her life.

At this point, most of her hair had gone and doctor's warned she was likely to lose the rest.

So, she decided to seize back control and take a pair of clippers to the remainder of it.

At first, her father was hesitant to help her shave the rest of her hair off, but he understood it was what she needed to do.

She was shocked when she first saw herself completely bald, but said she was relieved she didn't have an alien-shaped head.

Miss Moore revealed she cried on the train back to university, terrified about unveiling her drastic new look.

Walking through campus, she said she could feel people staring.

But the support of a friend who promised to shout or jump around to distract attention from her helped.

She added: 'Now my confidence comes and goes.

'If I'm surrounded by friends, they reassure me I'm beautiful, but it's when I'm alone that I feel shy.'

Katie-Anne is fundraising for a wig to help her feel more comfortable. To donate visit: https://www.gofundme.com/katieswig