At 9:58 AM -0700 3/19/00, Jeff Ricker wrote:
>I was reading the NY Times Book Review this morning. In one book, a
>claim apparently is made that a person's hair turned white while being
>tortured over a period of several days. It seems obvious that the claim
>being made is this: intense fear can cause a person's hair to turn white
>very rapidly (over a period of hours or days). Many of us have heard
>this claim before. Does anyone have any evidence that this can happen?
>It seems unlikely to me because I can't think of any physical mechanism
>that might cause hair to change color so rapidly. If it is a myth, where
>does it come from?
At least one anecdote refers to Marie Antoinette during her incarceration
prior to her introduction to Dr. Guillotine.
An alternative explanation that has been given for the whitening of her
hair is the lack of access to hair coloring.
>
>Jeff
>
>P.S. I have a large amount of white hair. Have I repressed an
>emotionally traumatic incident from my past? Should I go into therapy to
>try to recover this memory?
No, just keep a stash of Grecian Formula close at hand ;-)
* PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* Psychology Dept Minnesota State University, Mankato *
* 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 *
* http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html *
