Living with vitiligo can make anybody feel lonely and isolated. Who can blame you? While navigating cities, jobs, and universities, we find very few people around with the condition. However, much to your surprise, a vitiligo community is thriving around the world. The World Vitiligo Day can be an opportunity to connect with this community and know that there are many like you out there, who look like you and understand how you feel.
Since 2011, World Vitiligo Day has become a global event to act against the bullying, social neglect, and psychological trauma in vitiligo. In this blog, we will explain how World Vitiligo Day can help you generate awareness of vitiligo in the general public, and why is it extremely important for all vitiligo fighters.
1 – It makes you feel less alone
Living with vitiligo is often a silent, personal battle. Seeing the number of vitiligo support groups and communities talking about June 25 makes you feel less lonely in your fight against vitiligo. It is that time of the year when people openly talk about their personal struggle with vitiligo. When they, over the internet and conferences, share their thoughts, doubts, and struggles with strangers and stares, it feels as if you are seeing your own reflection in the mirror. This only helps you feel more secure and “normal” in your everyday life. It makes you feel good that someone finally “gets it.”
2- It makes vitiligo a conversation
Everything (funding, research, and lobbying) that is addressed during World Vitiligo Day comes back to raising awareness. By talking about vitiligo, you’re raising awareness in your personal networks and contributing to the strength of the vitiligo community at large.
The more all of us talk about the World Vitiligo Day, the more attention it will get from the media, resulting in more awareness, funds, and education for everyone. This way, one less vitiligo fighter will be stared at, bullied or judged. Makes sense, right? People stare, judge and bully vitiligo fighters because they don’t know what it is. Raising awareness of vitiligo only helps the world understand and know the skin condition.
3 – It gives you a purpose
When you learn about everything that is happening around the globe on World Vitiligo Day, you realize that you’re a part of the bigger story. It’s not about your personal pain; it’s about the emotional sufferings all vitiligo fighters go through at times. This way, explaining vitiligo to someone on the street will become more of a service to the vitiligo community than a personal struggle.