Swollen heads?

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All the people I've known, seen or met who have big or sort of swollen-looking heads seem to have a lot of emotional steam to blow off. Then when they blow it off their head shrinks. Is this where the expression "See a head shrink" came from? I saw a picture of some girls who survived Auschwitz. The pictures of them when they were young, after the war, show them with swollen heads, and in the later pictures of them they seem smaller. I also used to have a bigger head and then I felt better later and my head shrunk! I was looking at pictures of Adverb when he was younger and today, and he has a thin bony head today and before a rounder, big sort of head. He feels a lot better today than he did before too; he never gets depressed and always helps people who are depressed and never gets depressed and only gets irritable and takes irritability out on people for like 1 minute and then he admits how and why he made a mistake and apologizes. Also, some acquaintances at the YMCA who had emotional baggage and drug problems seemed to have bigger heads than the ones that were happy and smiling and telling you to cheer up.

Your cranium.. the 'head bone' becomes fixed as do all other bones in your body. It cannot shrink or swell in the sense you are talking about.

The skin around your cranium is the same skin elsewhere on your body with some differences.
While the cells can change size, it's at a level you are not likely to notice unless it's by any mechanism which causes a build up of fluids which are trapped in the cells or underneath the skin itself, as in severe edema, hematomas, etc.

It's likely that what you are describing about the concentration camp children has to do with malnourishment and the appearance of the head changing size when it's the body that is actually changing dramatically. Same thing with the malnourished children of Africa and other countries.

I have no idea what you are talking about in regards to Adverb.
Maybe he can shed some light on his mysterious shrinking head.

I had a swollen-looking sort of head, but it became smaller or bonier or something later or is this whole people's-heads-full-of-steam-they-need-to-blow-off thing totally in my imagination?

that sounds kinda psychotic - consult your doctor for further analysis.

yes i think it may be all in your imagination.
i see no facts to support your claims only irrational statements.

s**t; I feel so bad for starting this thread now, like it's spam or something.

like what is spam?
how is this spam?
dont feel bad.
there is no reason to feel bad.

but you should perhaps speak to someone,
its not good if you are delusional.

Don't feel bad, but I've got to tell you it doesn't make sense to me.

I do wear a large hat, though.

Hold on sebbs.... you're jumping-the-gun here.

I don't see Ana being delusional at all.

Ana... don't worry about it. Just realize that there is no means by which someone's head can grow or shrink as you have described.
We don't even know how much of a change you are talking about.

Like I said before.. the 'appearance' of head growth or shrinkage can be because of changes to the rest of the body.
Yes.. I agree that malnourished children can look like their heads are abnormally huge.
If they were to gain a better diet, it would be possible for their bodies to grow... normally for some, not so normal for others due to damage acquired during their poor health.
If their bodies did grow, I believe it could look like their heads are shrinking.

very plausible for someone who doesn't know the human body too well to think this.

I used to see a little girl with Hydrocephaly... abnormal swelling of the head.
She actually had less brain matter than you or I and her head was several times too large for her body.
She eventually had surgery in Texas to decrease the size.
My wife saw her as a patient after the surgery and said the change was remarkable.

This isn't really related other than pointing out that in extraordinary cases, a human head can change dramatically in size.
But still.. not the way you were describing earlier... and for the record...

I DO NOT THINK YO ARE DELLUSIONAL... I think sebbs was a bit too eager to throw that out to you.

well not really, i just thought it was better to be safe then sorry.
sorry if this upset you.


here:

"All the people I've known, seen or met who have big or sort of swollen-looking heads seem to have a lot of emotional steam to blow off. Then when they blow it off their head shrinks. Is this where the expression "See a head shrink" came from?"

this here to me sounds delusional.
but then again what do i know, i have mental problems on my own, im not saying there is anything wrong with being delusional i think it might be a better life then what i am having right now.
i am just saying, i am the type of person that rather covers my ass then does not.
so i recommended her to talk to a doctor, and i stated that i thought it sounded like she was delusional nothing more then that.
i am no professional, i hardly even know much about anything.

I know what you mean, Anna. I never thought of it before but the subcutaneous tissues can swell or shrink depending on different conditions. A person can lose or retain fluid. A man who overeats a lot can get a swollen bloated appearance in addition to actual fat. I can vouch for an actual physical condition that is like edema, fluid retention under the skin, that doesn't seem particularly harmful but does cause puffiness. There is also muscle to consider. A person who exercises a lot gets more muscle. A person who is under tension might have swelling around the cheeks and eyes.

When you are talking about starving people, their heads look bigger in proportion to their bodies because their bodies have shrunk.

what you are referring to with steam, is the emotion of pressure.
some people refer to pressure as steam, since they when in a cooker for example, do the whole "chooo choo" thing like trains do.
the head does not actually get large, nor small from letting out emotional "steam" or pressure.

i hope this helps.
i did not mean to be mean or anything like that, i am sorry if i hurt your feelings.
i just thought it was better if you spoke to someone because i dont know better.
thats all.
i did not mean harm i am sorry.

i am really sorry about this.
i am gonna shut up now.

Hey Sebbs, sorry if my posts brought you to this point... didn't mean to.

But... I guess I was feeling a bit protective of Ana for some reason (now that she's a 'Texan', I suppose... my old home state ).

I wasn't mad at you, just felt your words sounded a bit harsh to me.
I would have thought that same as you if she had said something like, "Well, their heads swell up big as basketballs, then after they are no longer angry their heads shrink to the size of cantaloupes!".

I just thought her descriptions of heads swelling and shrinking were more like minor changes, but ones she felt she could discern.

So... sorry to see you take my comments this way... wasn't meant to hurt you either.

I think the only normal (ie not a rare illness) way in which someones head would physically shrink or grow would be by loosing or gaining a good deal of weight. Some overweight people can carry a good deal of fat deposits in their face and this can lead to the impression that their head has grown or shrunk as weight is gained or lost. It's an illusion because their face is actually growing or shrinking not their entire head.


Since Anna is connecting this change in head size to blowing off steam maybe the effect she is experiencing has to do with the changes in color in a persons face when they become angry. Personally my face gets very red when I'm angry or embarrassed, so perhaps going from my usual pale to bright red might give the illusion of a change in size.

HEY! I like that! I didn't think of that angle... nice one Glencannon.