Special laws apply to tzara’at that appears on the head.
Pride and Arrogance
וְאִישׁ אוֹ אִשָּׁה כִּי יִהְיֶה בוֹ נָגַע בְּרֹאשׁ וגו':
(ויקרא יג:כט)
If a man or a woman has a lesion on the head . . .
Leviticus 13:29
The eruption of tzara’at on the head is caused by self-pride and arrogance, as opposed to tzara’at elsewhere on the body, which is the result of gossip or slander. The reason for this difference is that gossip and slander are superficial misdeeds, as explained above, which therefore affect the skin elsewhere on the body. Pride and arrogance, in contrast, are warped mental attitudes that affect the head. We should continuously strive to eliminate these character imperfections.1
"Warped mental attitudes", may come about because of lack of concern for that person by any other person. If someone has sincerely sought learning and growth with the help of others and has found no one to help, that person learns to depend on themselves for their well-being. This may come across as "self-pride and arrogance", when really the person is just trying to survive in an atmosphere of uncaring.