Lucy my mum suffered from Alopecia (sp) last year - due to stress.
its quite a scary thing when you have no idea what it is! but now we realise its quite common!
Its a shocker. I have suffered with it (from stress) on and off now for nearly 20 years.......patches the size of a 50 cent peice usually. I have nightmares about it. My hair is very thick, so if I do get a patch I can usually hide it, but it fills me with dread.