History Main / DiseaseBleach

* In ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', Hamilton's hair is said by the ensemble in "It's Quiet Uptown" to have "gone grey" after the death of his son.

* Saya Amou from ''WebOriginal/BusterGirls'' has silver-y grey hair as a consequence of both the experiments done to her to make her a wielder of the Monster Driver and the strain the device itself has on her body. Using [[spoiler:the Fenraizer Eternal armor]] has her hair starting to become completely white.

* Jigsaw from the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise has white hair at a relatively young age (canonically in his early 50s upon his death in ''Film/SawIII'') due to being terminally ill with cancer.

* In Creator/DeanKoontz's ''Dragon Tears'', Harry Lyon's former partner Ricky Esteban had to retire from the police force on medical grounds after being gut-shot, subsequently losing a big chunk of his digestive system. His hair went white and he seems prematurely aged in other ways, not surprisingly.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' has this a sign of someone who underwent the very painful, very dangerous, and never willing process of being implanted with a second crest. [[spoiler: Edelgard and Lysithea do not naturally have white hair.]]

* ''Literature/WhatMovesTheDead'': Madeline Usher's mysterious illness has turned all the hair on her body to fragile, stark white wisps. The effect disturbs her childhood friend [[UncannyValley on sight]]. It comes out that [[spoiler:it's a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion: the "hair" is actually the hyphae of the sapient fungus that's [[ParasiteZombie possessed her body]].]]

* ''Literature/MachineMan'': [[spoiler:The {{cyborg}} security guard Carl almost kills Cassandra and everyone else at Better Future]]. Afterwards, Cassandra's hair is "the color of ash".

* As per folklore, in ''VisualNovels/MyVowToMyLiege'', Wu Zixu has had white hair since his youth due to the trauma of [[FamilyExtermination losing his family]] and becoming a fugitive.

* From ''Manga/YourLieInApril'', though not really turned into white, [[spoiler:Kaori's]] hair color become ''much'' lighter shade of blonde after she was hospitalized in episode 13. In fact her skin and eyes become paler as well. Her eyes go from a crisp [[spoiler:blue]] to a dull [[spoiler:grey]].

* Subverted in ''Fanfic/MySisterLeni''. When 1-month old Lincoln's hair started paling, his parents understandably freaked out and went to the doctors. Tests found nothing wrong with Lincoln. His hair just turned white for no apparent reason.
* ''Fanfic/PurpleDays'': By the time Daenerys Targaryen reaches King's Landing in the [[GroundhogDayLoop Blackworks Loop]], Ser Jorah Mormont has suffered premature ageing including whitened hair, most likely due to the stress he's been under due to [[spoiler:Daenerys' descent into madness]].

* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Unlicensed doctor Taiga Hanaya has white streaks in his hair as homage to ''Manga/BlackJack''. They came about as a side effect of losing his carreer, friends, sense of self-wroth and nearly sanity because of [[StartOfDarkness Zero Day]]. The prequel mini-series, [[EpisodeZeroTheBeginning Episode Zero]], show how he [[FallenHero changed]] from [[NiceGuy caring]] radiologist to arrogant, angry BackAlleyDoctor he is known as in the main story..

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'': [[Characters/{{Wakfu}} Nox]]'s OriginsEpisode depicts Noximilien's once-blonde hair turning white as his SanitySlippage advances and his appearance, hygiene and well-being decline.

* While not exactly a disease, high amounts of stress over an extended period of time tends to significantly speed up the aging process, as any before-and-after pic of an American president would tell you.

One of the most effective ways to turn a character's hair completely white would be the stress of [[SoapOperaDisease prolonged illness]]. There may be some TruthInTelevision to this, but typically it's taken to extremes. In some cases, this trope is used to [[JustifiedTrope justify]] the white-hair part of WhiteHairBlackHeart if he happens to also be an [[IllGirl ill guy]].

* ''Literature/WhatMovesTheDead'': Madeline Usher's mysterious illness has turned all the hair on her body to fragile, stark white wisps. The effect disturbs her childhood friend [[UncannyValley on sight]]. It comes out that [[spoiler:it's a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion: the "hair" is actually the hyphae of the sapient fungus that's possessed her body.]]

Subtrope of PrematurelyGreyHaired. Compare BaldnessMeansSickness, for when a person who's ill or stressed loses their hair instead of graying.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The villain of the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise [[spoiler:for the first three films]] has white hair at a relatively young age (canonically in his mid-forties during ''Film/SawIII'') due to being terminally ill with cancer.

It's a widespread belief[[note]]there is no clear [[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-stress-causes-gray-hair scientific evidence on this]][[/note]] that stress causes hair to turn gray — just ask your grandmother. Stress, however, comes in many forms, and some are more effective than others at turning hair white.

* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Unlicensed doctor Taiga Hanaya has SkunkStripe[=s=] as homage to ''Manga/BlackJack''. They came about as a side effect of losing his carreer, friends, sense of self-wroth and nearly sanity because of [[StartOfDarkness Zero Day]]. The prequel mini-series, [[EpisodeZeroTheBeginning Episode Zero]], show how he [[FallenHero changed]] from [[NiceGuy caring]] radiologist to arrogant, angry BackAlleyDoctor he is known as in the main story..

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', [[OurGnomesAreWeirder Gnomes]] can literally get bored to death if they're deprived of excitement and novelty for too long. One early sign of "the Bleaching" is their [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair technicolor hair]] turning white, after which their minds start to fall apart.

Subtrope of PrematurelyGreyHaired.