Divya Delhi: Every white vitiligo patch hides a deep-seated wound. Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition that affects melanocytes, but for the 70 million people worldwide and 8.8% of the population in some Indian regions, the real battle is in boardrooms, classrooms, and social gatherings where judgment is swift and stigma runs deep. The vitiligo mental health crisis is rarely discussed. “A groundbreaking study of 430 Indian government employees with vitiligo, conducted in collaboration with leading specialists like Dr. Debraj Shome and published in the Annals of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, has disproven the myth that this is a ‘cosmetic concern.’ Dr. Rinky Kapoor, Director and Co-Founder, The Esthetic Clinics, says every participant reported profound embarrassment and social avoidance, and over half had developed alexithymia, a psychological defense mechanism characterized by emotional numbness, to defend against years of relentless social stigma.