Why are you thinking Skull makes people trigger?
Humans have a well-developed facial perceiving system that can recognize, buried in the dirt, a skull from a stone even when only viewing the uppermost portion of the cranium. My theory is based on
that degree of sensitivity and the studies that rely on mortality salience induction (the subtle ways researchers cue death thoughts below the level of awareness in the participant). To clarify, it isn't just any skull, it is your skull.
Alcohol advertisers have embedded skull imagery into ice cubes as a way of initiating a death thought and cope-response.
http://www.tijdschriftdepsycholoog.nl/assets/sites/6/What-does-death-have-to-do-with-drinking.pdf
Hair loss can have the same cope-response:
I think you’re digging too deep. I think it’s simpler: animals in general are put off by hairless fellows because they are hard wired into avoiding diseased individuals (in nature hair loss = grave illness or denutrition). We’re not different so we are genetically predisposed to avoid bald people, and obviously hate ourselves when bald.
And what is the pre-disposition: it is a survival mechanism, a will to self-preservation. And why do we want to survive: because of our instinctual flight from or fear of dying. So if we avoid baldness because, as you say, it signals disease, it is because disease signals a potentially fatal threat, and we arrive at bottom, as I argue, at death. You know this my friend you do, death is in your post.
The paradox with hairloss and disease is that incredibly fit and healthy people can go bald and not feel unhealthy because the impression of disease is carried through the sight of baldness alone. So what exactly do you
see on your head that inspires symptoms related to threat avoidance (PTSD) and the loss of control of your appearance (BDD). The studies done on visual cues for disease found them to be in the eyes, mouth, and skin, not the hair, so to prove the disease hypothesis you'd have to refute established research:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29298938
This... think of all the hairless animals that people (mainly women) consider weird or gross: Naked Mole Rat, Sphynx cats, most reptiles... the list goes on. And this of course applies to humans as well.
If, as you argue, animals (and humans) were considered weird or gross for their hairlessness
in-itself, women would not consider babies to be the most beautiful little cherubs on earth. And people wouldn't love watching baby rhinos and elephants. If there is fear it is because rats and cats carry diseases (like the bubonic plague) and the fear of reptiles—particularly snakes—is very old hardwiring. So once again, we're back at diseases and poisonous bites leading to our fear of dying and not hairlessness.
"A bald head looks like the skull of a skeleton".
Exactly! It's hard to deny when it's obvious.
But it needn't be so to act upon the subconscious and torment the individual.
I think you're digging a little too deep also.
Plus the ending of your post was a bit convoluted and hard to follow.
There was no clear distinction between the positive (which I assume is having a healthy head of hair) and the negative (assumed to be severe hair loss).
There is no positive or negative, it's not a value judgement, it's an investigation on a question: why do some people fall into existential despair at the sight of their hair loss? To them it is not just a hit on physical attractiveness, it is a core disturbance, the entire meaning of life is drained: "I can’t concentrate. I can’t socialise. I am not a person, but a shadow of a person. I hate everything about my existence. I don’t believe in anything anymore. I only believe that life is cruel and pain is endless and inevitable." A member posted that a few weeks ago and you liked it so you can't tell me you're not aware of the utter hopelessness that hairloss inspires. Are you gonna tell me it's just overreacting, it's not that deep. There is a serious unaddressed crisis here! What is at the core and why is hairloss in particular triggering such a deep level of distress? Researchers only seem to conclude that
hairloss is depressing. Yeah, so is the weather, try harder! Why are people dropping out of college, avoiding social engagements, and withdrawing fully into picking themselves apart: their life is no longer good or meaningful or valuable or most importantly predictable
. They come into realizing their own vulnerability and by extension just how fragile and futile and ultimately meaningless their own existence really is.
This is not just hair.
Refuting Two Potential Objections:
I know this guy that shaved his head and he doesn't think about death.
Most of the guys that say just get on with life have one already rich in meaning and really can't understand. I know a middle-aged guy that said shaving his head was one of the best things he did. He is married to a loving wife, has a stable job, his bills are paid, kids are grown, has friends, hobbies, etc. He knows where he will be next Monday and seems certain 2018 will follow much as 2017 did. Most people have an array of coping strategies (called anxiety buffers) that convince them death is something in the distant future, not to be given serious thought. If you can get yourself to that place, hairloss will give you less trouble. But if you have a low self-esteem, are high in neuroticism, have mental health issues, or live in precarious circumstances, the core of your being may take a serious hit with hairloss in a way that goes beyond hair.
Buddhists are bald and are at peace with death.
Actually a recent study found buddhists are
significantly more afraid of death than all the other groups.
Conclusion
It's novel, I admit. And goes further than any theory of bald anxiety and suffering has or probably ever will considering how many people in medicine ignore or downplay the severity of hair loss anxiety. You find it everywhere: get over it, it's just hair, who cares. Then one day, boom!
Brushed aside by a crisis hotline because... it's just hair.. just a cosmetic issue!!! Suicide is proof that hair loss cracks the psyche apart and turns otherwise healthy individuals hopeless.
TLDR: Don't downplay the seriousness of baldness; it cuts deeper than hair.
