Life with vitiligo is a rocky road. Some days are good, but then there are lows of hopelessness. With each passing milestone, this road splits into two alleyways. First, invites you to fight your misery and rise above challenged posed by vitiligo whilst another gives you a choice to embrace pain and find comfort in its company.
I have met many people who are wandering on path two. Some of them are lost and seeking help to come back to path one (those on their depression treatment) while others are quite happy about not being happy. It sounds strange, but they have started enjoying being sad… they have started enjoying depression in vitiligo.
Akash, who has had vitiligo form childhood, calls vitiligo his friend and oddly his reasoning doesn’t surprise me: “I like sadness in vitiligo. I like enjoying the cold breeze in chilly winters when there is no one nearby. However, learning to accept the push and pull of my sadness is something I’m still working on. But, sometimes even I have to look up and realize how much good comes from bad.”
“But, why aren’t you seeking any help?” I ask. “Because vitiligo is a great teacher and I can’t stop learning now”, he looks incredibly convincing.
I understood it perfectly. There is a reason why many with the chronic skin disorder do not seek any vitiligo treatment. Though I don’t endorse depression in vitiligo, still I can’t hold myself back from helping sufferers understand what real happiness and sensitivity are all about.
Vitiligo makes you a good listener
Depression in vitiligo makes one really withdrawn and be a better listener. All of a sudden you can’t think of anything to say as talking just feels like too much effort. And, you know what happens when you stop talking? You listen. It doesn’t let you forget what a gift other people’s stories can be.
Vitiligo makes you wiser
When you began to confront vitiligo, true change began. When your brain is exploding with thoughts, what you find is nothing short of profound. And, you strive to achieve something far greater than knowledge… wisdom. Here are 7 Lessons you can learn from Your Vitiligo.
Vitiligo teaches you empathy
Vitiligo teaches you more about compassion, something you would have quaffed about in your younger years. The compassion that feels the very depths of what it is to be human. This compassion is heartfelt and demands you to look at other beings without judgment. Now you understand that suffering is the ubiquitous human state and it can be enjoyed over mutual understanding.
And, if you are still an optimist, no matter how sad you feel, you won’t lose the hope that things will get better. Just like your light is always tinged with your knowledge of the darkness, your darkness will also be rendered incomplete without your memory of the light.
