They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. When your eyes are failing you, though, the impacts can be far more than physical. Severe eye problems can take a profound toll on a person’s ability to function, their mental well-being, and their overall quality of life.
Indeed, there is evidence that suggests that severe eye disorders can contribute to suicidal ideal. There is hope, however. Through proper support, including consistent access to quality mental health care, you can overcome despair and build the happy and fulfilling future you deserve.
The Physical and Mental Impacts of Severe Eye Disease
Human vision is a complex and fragile thing. Vision derives from a seemingly miraculous interplay between external light stimuli, the light-receptive eyeball, and the stimuli-processing brain.
Given the profound, nearly miraculous mechanisms through which the eye and brain convert light into sight, it often seems incredible that things don’t go wrong more frequently.
Yet there are a host of conditions that can lead both to chronic and debilitating pain and irreversible vision loss. For example, if you are one of the millions of people worldwide who have experienced vein disease, you may also be at risk for developing vascular eye disease.
Retinal vascular diseases, as the name suggests, affect the blood vessels carrying oxygen and nutrients to the retina. They are often associated with other chronic, and sometimes life-threatening, conditions, including diabetes and hypertension.
These conditions can cause visual disturbances, such as blurriness and floaters, which can impede daily functioning. You may experience headaches, nausea, and pain as a result of these visual disturbances and the decrease in blood flow to the retina.
In addition, your ability to function as an able-bodied person has changed. You may lose your ability to work, drive, or engage in hobbies you once enjoyed, such as watching TV, sewing, or doing crossword puzzles.
To put it simply, severe eye diseases can deprive you of the life you once knew and enjoyed. This can have a deeply detrimental impact on your mental health.
Eye Disease, Depression, and Suicidal Ideation
Eye disease does not have to deprive you of your sight to rob you of your sense of well-being. In a study of more than 16,000 adults diagnosed with dry eye disease (DED), researchers found that those with chronic eye disorder were significantly more likely than the general population to experience depression and suicidal ideation.
It is not difficult to understand why. Living with a chronic condition, especially one that may interfere with your daily functioning and deprive you of your sight, can leave you feeling bereft of ways to cope.
You may feel as if life is hopeless and the future is not worth fighting for. Such thoughts, while perhaps normal during the initial adjustment phase, cannot, should not, and need not be permanent.
It is, indeed, possible to grieve for the life you once knew and then move on to build a future that is happier and more fulfilling than you ever expected.
Coping with Depression and Suicidal Ideation
When it comes to dealing with a chronic health condition, such as severe eye diseases, one of the first and most important lessons you can learn is that, while you can’t always control your circumstances, you can control your response to them.
If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, you must seek help immediately. A therapist can help you learn to express and sort through your emotions. For instance, those who are experiencing suicidal ideations rarely want to die. Instead, they often just want their emotional pain to end, and this means addressing the roots of that pain.
If your eye disease has led to vision loss, then you may feel that your life is hopeless, and the “old you” is gone forever. However, when you challenge these assumptions and begin to explore more life-affirming alternatives for the future, you may surprise yourself with how quickly and easily hopeful possibilities arise.
For example, when you are experiencing emotional despair, a pleasant mental distraction can be your very best friend. Escaping into a pleasurable activity, even something as simple as drawing up an aromatherapeutic bath or listening to your favorite music can help you quiet your darkest thoughts.
Even more importantly, finding new ways to indulge in the things you love can provide that much-needed infusion of hope. These moments of gratitude can be a reminder that life still has its pleasures and the future still offers gifts worth fighting for, even if they are revealed in ways you might’ve never anticipated before.
The key is to remember that you can still have many of the same things you have always loved, such as using audiobooks to escape into a long-beloved novel or a voice recorder as a substitute for traditional journaling. Support groups, mental health counselors, and even occupational therapists can help you discover creative ways to rebuild your life in the face of your new normal. That can be all the incentive you need to keep moving forward, gaining peace and happiness one day at a time.
The Takeaway
Severe eye problems can take a significant toll on your daily life, affecting your daily functioning, and leaving you vulnerable to mental illness. People who experience eye disease are at increased risk of developing depression and suicidal ideation. It does not have to be this way, however. With time and support, it is possible to regain the sense of peace, hope, and joy you so richly deserve.
