How does vitiligo affect people mentally?

Higher levels of depression and social anxiety have been reported in patients with vitiligo. Patients may also experience low self-esteem, social stigmatization, shame, avoidance of intimacy, adjustment disorder, fear, suicidal ideation, and other psychiatric morbidities.

Does vitiligo cause fear?

Emotionally stressful events may trigger the development of vitiligo, potentially due to hormonal changes that occur when a person experiences stress. As in other autoimmune diseases, emotional stress can worsen vitiligo and cause it to become more severe.

What are the negative effects of vitiligo?

Vitiligo does not pose a serious threat to one’s health, but it can result in physical complications, such as eye issues, hearing problems, and sunburn. People with vitiligo also tend to be more likely to have another autoimmune disease (like thyroid disorders and some types of anemia).

Does vitiligo make you depressed?

Vitiligo is caused by partial or complete destruction of melanocytes in the affected skin area and influences the patient’s quality of life. Besides physical involvement, vitiligo patients experience a high level of stress. Depression and Anxiety are common psychiatric disorders in vitiligo patients.

How does vitiligo feel?

People with vitiligo may feel embarrassed or anxious about their skin. Sometimes people are rude – they may stare or say unkind things. This could cause a person with vitiligo to develop low self-esteem. This in turn could create anxiety or depression issues and make someone want to isolate.

Can vitiligo cause depression?

Does trauma cause vitiligo?

Vitiligo can be triggered by stress to the melanin pigment-producing cells of the skin, the melanocytes. The triggers, which range from sunburn to mechanical trauma and chemical exposures, ultimately cause an autoimmune response that targets melanocytes, driving progressive skin depigmentation.

Is vitiligo psychosomatic?

In vitiligo we clearly see the influence the psyche has in the development of the condition. At the onset of vitiligo, an intensely stressful situation such as the death of a loved one, love disappointment, a divorce or a car accident becomes the psychosomatic phase where the psyche attacks the skin.

Does vitiligo cause fatigue?

Vitiligo patients had a three times higher risk of complaining of fatigue than controls. Among the pain-related somatic symptoms, the strongest association was elicited between vitiligo and cardiovascular system (CVS) symptoms (OR=6.2).

Why do people get vitiligo?

If the body mistakes melanocytes as foreigners, it will attack and kill these cells. Studies suggest that the other type of vitiligo, segmental vitiligo, has a different cause. This type seems to develop when something in the body’s nervous system goes awry.

What are the complications of vitiligo?

Affected individuals may also develop other autoimmune disorders — especially Addison disease, autoimmune thyroid disease (both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism ), diabetes mellitus, pernicious anaemia and alopecia areata. A previous history of vitiligo can also make a patient more vulnerable to a drug-induced extension of their pigment loss.

What are the signs and symptoms of drug-induced vitiligo?

Drug-induced vitiligo results in flat patches of depigmented skin with irregular but defined borders. The areas of the body most likely to be affected are the face, elbows and knees, the backs of hands, and the genitals.

Does vitiligo affect all races and genders equally?

Vitiligo affects all races and genders equally; however, it is more visible in people with darker skin. Although vitiligo can develop in anyone at any age, it most commonly appears in people ages 10 to 30 years.