Every year, June 25 is celebrated as World Vitiligo Day. In this week’s health talk, The Pioneer’s Shikha Duggal writes about the condition, its mental side effects, the way to deal with it, and more.
She was bullied for a skin condition — Aastha Shah, who is now a vitiligo awareness champion because she is educating everyone about it. It started as a single white patch, but she consciously shared, “Vitiligo is not a disease; it is not contagious.
Neither is it cancerous. It doesn’t have a cure, but I still tried my best. I was actually visiting each and every temple, started believing in superstitions, applied so many creams, and tried so many medications — be it allopathy or homoeopathy. Nothing ever lucked out.
This condition took over my life! I was taking treatments to sleep. After hearing statements like you look like a dalmatian dog or you won’t get married ever, I stopped trying to fix my skin condition and instead started to embrace it. Because I cannot attach my self-worth to the way I look! In the next 15 years, it spread evenly all over my body.
This was one of the biggest myths that I broke: that if it is vitiligo, it has to be patchy. I am not one of those who has patchy skin now; it is actually evenly spread. Whenever I was posting something on social media, hate followed me there too. I still have it, and I have not bleached my skin. No surgeries: nothing can cure this! Even if it is evenly spread on my skin and it doesn’t seem like that, that doesn’t mean I don’t have it—the symptoms do follow me every day. I get sunburn, and it’s very painful. I get blisters very easily, and it is very hard to heal on my skin. That is why I wanted to educate people about it through social media! Let’s destigmatise this condition.”
Though, we saw right how skin diseases and disorders negatively impact the quality of life and can make one insecure and low in confidence in the affected person. In the same circumstances on World Vitiligo Day, Dr. Shireen Furtado, a Cosmetic Dermatologist at Aster CMI Hospital, said, “Simple day-to-day interactions with people will make them dread being asked about the condition and being given unwanted and unscientific advice.
Getting intimate with partners, free play in the swimming pool, and other such things we take for granted are huge barriers for the infected. The patients are generally self-conscious, less motivated, and do not consider themselves attractive. People who suffer from vitiligo have been known to suffer from low self-esteem.
Recent research highlights the correlation between healthy skin and mental well-being. As per the findings of this report, people, especially youngsters and children suffering from skin disorders, may suffer from physical and mental health problems, regardless of the treatments that are available today.”
Several factors, such as anxiety, stress, and an improper diet, are linked to skin infections. Thus, making changes to your lifestyle and following a healthy skin routine can positively impact your mental and physical well-being. She continued, “Lack of proper sleep can lead to increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body, which can cause inflammation and affect the overall quality of your skin, leading to the development of skin conditions. Sleep deprivation not only dehydrates your skin but also decreases the blood flow to the facial area which reduces your skin’s ability to protect itself from pollutants and flush out other harmful agents.
Therefore, you need to ensure that you are getting at least 6-8 hours of sleep every day and give your body a chance to recharge and rejuvenate. Or, sunlight and UV rays can take a toll on your skin. Too much exposure to sunlight can also increase your risk of skin cancer. So, while stepping out in the sun, you must wear protective clothing and apply a good sunscreen with SPF 30 and above to protect your skin from ultraviolet rays.
Additionally, if you are wearing makeup, you must apply sunscreen first, as makeup alone won’t protect you from the harmful UV light. If you have sensitive skin, then you can look at using water-based sunscreen, which can help in keeping oiliness at bay.”
As per extensive research, it has been found that exposure to too much heat can harm your skin in the same way as UV rays. Exposure to heat is one of the key reasons why some individuals are affected by hyperpigmentation after undergoing laser treatments, as heat causes dilation of the blood vessels, increases inflammation, and triggers melanocytes to produce more pigment. Skin-damaging heat exposure can also occur during cooking, sitting too close to heaters, or taking hot showers.
Long hot showers can strip the outermost layer of the skin and essential oils. “Healthy diet is essential. To improve your skin’s health, you must consume at least five portions of colourful fruits and vegetables, as they contain several powerful antioxidants that can prevent your skin from getting damaged. Furthermore, to keep your skin supple and firm, you must ensure that you are getting enough vitamin C. Regular exercise not only benefits your mental and physical health but is also great for your skin. Exercise helps reduce stress, increases blood flow, boosts cell nourishment, and flushes out toxins from your body. By exercising regularly, you can keep several stress-induced conditions at bay and keep your skin supple and elastic.”
We needed more understanding of vitiligo. “Vitiligo is quite rare, affecting only about one percent of the world’s population. It is non-contagious and non-life-threatening, which might contribute to its lack of awareness. Due to misconceptions like vitiligo being contagious, many individuals with this condition face stigma and discrimination, leading them to hide their skin patches. However, we should remember that, despite being a lesser-known condition, vitiligo carries a heavy burden of stigma and prejudice.
In fact, it is one of the most stigmatised skin conditions! The prevailing misconceptions and negative attitudes surrounding vitiligo cause significant social and psychological challenges for individuals living with the condition. People with vitiligo often feel self-conscious about their appearance and avoid going out in public. This can lead to social isolation and loneliness. On top of that, vitiligo can also cause anxiety.
People with vitiligo may worry about how others will react to their condition, and they may be afraid of being judged or rejected. The stigma and discrimination they face can further worsen their wellbeing, leading to low self-esteem, self-consciousness, and negative body image. I can say for sure that vitiligo has very serious effects on the mind. It has been seen that people with vitiligo are unhappy with their appearance. Another big worry is that the disease could spread to places that other people can see.
Patients tend to stay away from social events because they are ashamed of their disease. Patients who aren’t married find it hard to get married, and patients who are married, especially women, have trouble with their marriages. Some of them even had trouble meeting people or getting jobs. Surprisingly, it’s not the physical symptoms of vitiligo that cause the most problems. Instead, it’s the lack of knowledge about the condition and the stigma that comes with it. A “patch on the mind” can be a lot harder to deal with than a “patch on the skin”. That’s why it’s important to deal with the psychological effects of vitiligo if you want to give patients holistic treatment,” asserted Dr. Sachin Gupta from the Department of Dermatology at Amrita Hospitals.
Celebrating the lives and community of individuals living with vitiligo while shedding light on the challenges they face, we hear something from a psychologist perspective too — “As a clinical psychologist I have dealt with many patients who have suffered from vitiligo. And I have realised whenever something happens to the body their self esteem is the first thing that takes a toll on. They are literally ostracised by society, and I don’t understand why! The strata of patients that come to me suggest that they are unable to take those comments from society on their appearance, which in turn leads to body image issues.
They are losing confidence, to be very honest. I have also heard stories where people really want to isolate themselves in a room. Their near and dear ones are making them very conscious. So to help them cope, we, as clinical psychologists, give them some therapies. We try to make them understand that what has happened to them wasn’t in their control! Then we make them understand that it’s not all about appearance. Then Vitiligo patients undergo a self-stigma rather than a social stigma, which is what I have understood in all these years as a clinical psychologist!” shared clinical psychologist Mimansa Singh Tanwar, from the Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences at Fortis!
According to a report, the prevalence of vitiligo in our country ranges from 0.25% to 4% among dermatology outpatients. Atleast some are impacted, right? So for this, it became crucial for us to educate the public about the causes, and more. Another dermatologist comes on board with us, Dr. Gargi Taneja from Manipal Hospital, and she elaborated, “There are a lot of myths and misconceptions associated with this condition. A lot of people think it is contagious; however, in reality, it is just a change in the colour of the skin.
A lot of effort is being made by celebrities and models to raise awareness about the condition so that people with it can be enabled to embrace their skin.There are many support groups that can be joined to manage the psychological fallout associated with the same. It is not a condition that needs to be treated; you can treat it if you would like to.
The condition is stressful because it is associated with a lot of social stigma and financial burden, and sometimes it can be aggravated. There are so many relapses associated with it, and sometimes the treatment’s side effects also contribute to a massive increase in stress.”
