Michael Gwarisa
Though it has become a popular fashion statement, especially among modern women, performers, and artists, new research shows that dyeing hair in unnatural shades could be a silent cry for help and a sign of underlying mental health struggles.
The full study Blue Hair and the Blues: Dying Your Hair Unnatural Colours is Associated with Depression by Edward Dutton and Emil O. W. Kirkegaard (Psychreg Journal of Psychology, Volume 6, Issue 2, June 2022) found that unnatural hair colours such as blue, green, pink, and purple strongly correlated with higher self-reported mental instability.
The study analysed data from more than 18,000 users of the online dating platform OKCupid to explore whether unconventional self-presentation choices, particularly dyeing hair in unnatural colours, were associated with mental health outcomes.
Participants were asked whether they had ever dyed their hair a “real crazy, unnatural colour” such as blue, green, pink, or purple. Their responses were then compared with several mental health indicators, including self-reported depression, emotional instability, prior experience with mental illness, and whether they had ever sought therapy.
Edward Dutton and Emil O. W. Kirkegaard
The findings showed that individuals who reported dyeing their hair unnatural colours were significantly more likely to report symptoms of depression, emotional volatility, and past mental health struggles than those who had never done so. Even after controlling for factors such as age, sex, race, body type, tattoos, diet, sexual orientation, intelligence, political beliefs, and relationship style, the association remained statistically significant.
Further analysis revealed that people with unnaturally dyed hair were more likely to have seen a therapist, to describe themselves as frequently depressed, and to report having experienced mental illness. However, the researchers found no significant difference in overall life satisfaction, suggesting that the link is specific to emotional and psychological distress rather than general unhappiness.
