Anyone with vitiligo in visible places can tell you that when people stare at our vitiligo it can have some pretty heavy emotional consequences. Of course, sometimes you get positive attention as well. The best way to balance things out is to learn to manage your feelings about the attention you get!
I have had vitiligo on my face for three and a half years. It started out as a spot on my chin, and soon I found that I had spots all over my face. I was like a dalmatian. Or a pinto 🙂 I got a lot of attention because of it. I would have preferred that people ask me about it and have an open conversation, but I’m sure they did not want to make me feel uncomfortable. Over the years, as my vitiligo changed I changed too. I learned to manage my feelings about my vitiligo and about the attention that people gave me. Now I just have a few spots on my face, and depending on how my hair is styled you sometimes can’t even see them, but people still drop their jaws at me every now and then.
I decided to make a video about what to do when people stare at your vitiligo because I have noticed that a lot of people with vitiligo hate their own skin. It makes me so sad. There are many beautiful things about vitiligo, and focusing on the positives at least helps to lessen any emotional hurt.
Thank you for reading and watching!
Yours,
Aruna
P.S. I’m working to improve my videos in general! I just got a new camera (early birthday gift) and I’m moving out of the Harvard dorms this weekend. So I hope to figure out a good location for better lighting!
Eudaimonia 
Hi Aruna! ! I really enjoyed your video. I think those are some great tips and I really admire how positive you are. 🙂 Since my vitiligo is on my upper arm and elbow, I have always just hidden it under long sleeves or camouflaged it. I have somehow even managed to get through the last 10 years that I’ve had it with hardly anybody knowing about it (even my best friend!) and I think that being able to hide it and having hidden it for so long, in my mind it has become a very negative thing, like a dirty secret. Also being plagued with severe eczema, I think the combination of both eczema and vitiligo has just traumatized me and given me huge insecurities about my skin. Hiding my skin and my desire to have ‘normal’ skin like everyone else has really become a very unhealthy obsession and it has really held me back in life. I really hope one day I can eventually learn to accept my vitiligo and embrace it. Your video is an inspiration. xx
Hi tomatoskingirl! Thank you so much for commenting and sharing your story! I think you are a very strong person. Based on your blog, I know you’re going through a lot with your eczema right now. And sometime down the line when your eczema gets better, I hope that you will have the chance to focus on and see the beauty in your vitiligo too 🙂 *hugs* Sending positive thoughts your way!