Poor Eyesight Can Lead to Poor Mental Health— Here’s What You Can Do

It has long been proven that the mind-body connection is real, with physical health influencing mental wellness and vice versa. So, besides making healthy lifestyle changes through diet and exercise, you can refer to a previous post about the science of happiness for strategies for boosting your mental health and overall quality of life. These include finding your purpose for a more fulfilling life, nurturing supportive relationships with family and friends, and practicing self-compassion.

However, a lesser-known fact is that focusing on eye health specifically can also influence your mental health. Below, we look at how poor eyesight can contribute to poor mental health and what you can do to invest in eye care for better holistic wellness.

The connection between eyesight and mental health

In this digital age, one of the most straightforward ways your eye health can impact your mental well-being is through the stress-related effects of excessive screen time. Specifically, prolonged exposure to the blue light emitted by electronic devices can increase the risk of digital eye strain. Its symptoms include fatigue, dryness, headaches, and blurred or double vision, which otherwise go beyond physical discomfort to also contribute to or worsen stress levels.

Besides stress-inducing digital eye strain, research shows that vision problems like myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism can also lead to poor mental health. Findings of a systemic review published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine found that the proportion of depression is higher among those with poor or low vision, especially older adults. Since your eyesight is essential to navigating your surroundings and performing basic tasks, getting your vision compromised can worsen your mood and mental health due to increased feelings of loneliness, helplessness, and isolation.

Fortunately, these mental health concerns can be addressed through the eye care tips in the next section.

Eye care tips to boost your mental wellness

Update your eyewear

As previously mentioned, individuals with vision impairment are at higher risk of chronic stress and depression due to the difficulties of daily life. So, it’s best to regularly update the prescription of your eyeglasses for optimal vision correction and comfort. When ordering an updated pair, consider going to Ray-Ban not only for its wide range of frame styles like the bold Wayfarer and timeless Clubmaster to suit your features but also for the high-quality design and material that prevent discomfort while you wear your glasses all day. Besides prescription glasses, the countless frame and lens combinations include protective features, such as blue light filters to reduce glare from digital screens and other artificial sources.

Regulate your screen time

Because digital eye strain can also negatively affect your mental health, remember to regulate your screen time by taking regular breaks to rest your eyes, rehydrate, and even do simple eye exercises like blinking and rotating your eyeballs. Additionally, you can better monitor your screen use by using a mobile app like Digital Wellbeing for Android devices. Much like Apple’s Screen Time feature, the app allows you to set up screen time limits for certain apps, schedule Focus and Bedtime modes to take a break from your phone, and track your overall screen usage to foster a healthier relationship with technology.

Get routine eye exams

Lastly, schedule routine eye exams every one or two years for ongoing monitoring and assessment of your vision and overall eye health. Going to a qualified optometrist can not only detect early signs and symptoms of eye problems but also introduce treatment and prevention approaches to avoid these conditions from affecting your mental well-being.

Overall, eyesight is one of the five basic senses that help you experience life to the fullest, so make eye care a priority in your daily life. For more helpful resources on health and lifestyle, continue exploring the rest of the posts here at Lifestyle.org.

(Article written by Sophia Emma Exclusively For Lifestyle Magazine.)