I'm a 16 year old boy with vitiligo. I've had vitiligo since I was 11. It's been a difficult 5 years but my friends and family have pulled me through.
I know vitiligo isn't a life threatening disease, it doesn't affect my health but in this day and age- where society puts a lot of importance on looks, vitiligo is almost as bad.
Most of the pigments on my face have already dissipated and there are symmetrical patches across my body.
Early on, what I found most difficult was the little things like the looks that I got from people that passed by or the fact that people were so obviously avoiding the seat next to me on public transport probably thinking it's contagious or something. I don't blame them though, maybe i'd do the same if I was in their position. It wasn't long before I kind of stopped thinking about what others thought of me and focused on what I thought of myself. Still, this made my self-esteem very low and made me really insecure.
It was only recently that it started getting difficult again, I was getting older and was thinking about what the future had in store for me. Questions that I really never thought of started popping up.
The biggest one being: who'd want to marry me? Of all the people in the world, why would anyone choose me? When people look at me all they'd see is someone who's different, an abnormal person.
I'm not really sure what i'm trying to achieve by posting this, it's not a question, but perhaps there's someone I can talk to who can relate or has been through this.
I'll admit, It wasn't all bad, vitiligo, I feel has made me a better person. It definitely made me humble and appreciate things I otherwise might've taken for granted. Vitiligo has kind of opened my eyes- teaching me not to judge a book by its cover.