Stress is the response we experience in an emotional or physical turbulent atmosphere. Working in stringent timelines can be stressful, and so is losing a job.
Stress can adversely affect our emotional, social, and mental well being. Its adverse impact can be seen on different body parts, including the eyes. The eye is most affected because of its exploited use. If you notice symptoms such as headache, twitching, watery eyes, eye pain, or dry eyes, it could be a sign of eye damage. It is better to visit an Eye specialist in Santacruz for proper diagnosis and eye care.
How Can Stress Affect Vision?
In stress, our body releases a hormone called adrenaline to relay the stress, but taking too much stress adversely affects the eyes. Our eyes play a major role in all kinds of work we do, whether it is a manual job or desktop job. When our body is stressed, our pupils dilate, allowing more light to enter the eyes to see things better. Still, too much exposure to light adversely affects the eyes, primarily retina, because that is the eyes’ screen. The retina is the innermost layer that obtains an inverted image of objects, and the nerves transmit the image in photoelectric form and send impulses to the brain.
According to the Institute of Medical Psychology, continuous stress and elevated cortisol levels negatively impact the eye and brain by disrupting the blood flow.
Cortisol is an anti-stress hormone, but its excess release causes diseases that lead to vision loss, such as glaucoma, optic neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy.
Causes of stress that may lead to Vision loss or Retinal damage
While our body is under stress, it synthesizes and releases anti-stress hormones called cortisol and adrenaline. But, when it is secreted in large proportions, it imposes adverse effects, primarily on the brain and eyes, as they receive maximum exposure in any work. Many causes of stress can lead to retinal or vision loss, some of them are as given below.
- Extended screen time- Whether you are a candidate working from home, a doctor, a student, or any other professional, extended screentime is a major cause for various eye problems since eyes come in direct contact with the screen.
- Financial Stress- Increased financial burden tenses you and blocks the mind from thinking flexibly in all possible directions to mitigate the problem. Plus, financial problems that last longer bring health problems such as bp and diabetes that may indirectly impact vision. Diabetic retinopathy, which is vision loss caused in diabetic patients, is prevalent these days.
- Stress due to other reasons- There are a few reasons we are not entirely aware of, but some uncertain reasons create stress.
Types of Mental Stress
Some different kinds of stress are :
- Worry
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Social Isolation
- Emotional Exhaustion
According to recent research, prolonged mental stress can make you more likely to lose vision.
Effects of Stress on Vision.
There is an array of stress generated vision problems such as:
- Seeing shimmers, stars spots randomly.
- Fogginess
- Double-Vision
- Tunnelled vision
- Distorted vision
- Soreness in eyes
- Eye- pain
- Kaleidoscope vision
- Eyestrain
- Unusual pulsing
Symptoms of Stress Generated Vision problems
Vision is unique, and you must not compromise with your vision on the contrary to lifestyle. Make sure to beat your stress so that you can live a happy and sustainable life. Most importantly, on seeing any of the symptoms, visit an eye specialist or retina specialist in Mumbai immediately.
- Blurry Vision
- Narrowing rate of vision
- Reduced blink rate
- Dehydrated eyes or very wet eyes
Treatment options
The best remedy to this is to reduce the stress generated from a cause. There are some traditional, psychosomatic and medical approaches to reduce stress-induced vision-related problems. Some of the treatments or remedies are as follows:
- Meditation
- Autogenic practices like following verbal commands to respond and relax
- Breathing techniques
- Therapies
- Socialization
- Stress management techniques
The above are some of the remedial approaches to tackle stress-related vision loss. But in case the problems escalate and you face vision issues, you can visit an eye specialist or retina specialist, who would probably provide the below treatments:
- Lasik Surgery is the latest and most efficient surgery, usually done to correct myopia, lens-related problems. The stress-related eye problems may strike an array of issues in the eyes, including myopia as the most common eye disease. Lasik can help resolve these eye issues.
- Steroidal medications- These medications are provided under stringent guidelines of doctors.
- Photodynamic therapy –It is suggested in cases when fluid leaks from the eye. In Photodynamic therapy, a drug called verteporfin is injected into the patient’s arm, and the doctor focuses a cool laser on the part of the eyes responsible for fluid leakage. The drug activates and blocks the leakage.
Samarth Eye Clinic is a multi-speciality eye hospital, provides an array of eye treatments. Our team of doctors, technicians, Retina specialists in Mumbai work in sync with the approach to provide world-class eye care to each patient.
