Is vitiligo TMS?

Hi everyone,
Does anyone know if vitiligo - a skin condition characterized by patches of the skin losing their pigment - is TMS? This is for our 18 year old neighbour boy who was diagnosed with vitiligo this spring.

 

My sister has this and it's auto immune. She has Hashimotos Thyroiditis. It's not tms but stress could probably exacerbate it. It really sucks because there's no good treatment for it and you have to stay out of the sun. I feel bad for him since he is so young too.

 

I can’t pretend to know everything about vitiligo, but this intrigues me:

Personally, I would not treat this condition as TMS/the mind-body connection. It is clear that it is not; note that the full article linked below does not really give any credence to the nerves and emotional stress hypothesis. However, perhaps the management of one’s mental health could be factored into a comprehensive plan for vitiligo that addresses the other components of the condition.

SOURCE: https://www.umassmed.edu/vitiligo/blog/blog-posts1/2017/01/answer-to-what-causes-vitiligo/ (What causes vitiligo? - UMass Vitiligo Clinic & Research Center)

 

Thank you so much for your response, I am sure it will help the family. I was kind of hoping it was TMS because it would mean he could be cured. But still he could probably benefit at least partially from many aspects of TMS treatment techniques and approach to managing emotional and mental health.

 

Thank you so much for your kind response, I really appreciate it. I feel so bad for the boy.

 

As Miffy pointed out, I also suspect that significant stress can exacerbate many structural conditions; extreme stress alone is enough to age our bodies more quickly, break down our immune systems and other bodily processes, etc. It’s also undeniable that emotions can make it more difficult to accept life with a structural condition, so it’s really a two-prong issue. I think it’s beneficial for everyone who has any structural condition to make sure their mental health is being addressed for these reasons.

(And people without structural conditions should of course work on mental health management as well; Jan on this forum frequently references Dr. Gabor Mate’s book, When the Body Says No, frequently.)