In some cases, anxiety can trigger blurred vision. When we experience stress, the body pumps adrenaline into the bloodstream, causing pupil dilation and vision changes.1 While these effects are generally temporary, they can be distressing. Understanding the connection between stress and blurry vision can help individuals recognize the early signs of overwhelm and use strategies to calm their bodies and minds.
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Anxiety & Vision Changes: What Is the Connection?
Anxiety is a common and natural response to stress, and approximately 34% of people will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives.2 Anxiety causes the heart to pound, stress hormones to flow, digestive systems to slow, and temperature regulation systems to go awry. In addition, adrenaline, blood sugar, and blood pressure spikes can lead to vision impairments.3 Acute anxiety episodes like panic attacks and constant stress can be both a result and cause of vision problems.4
Common anxiety-related vision symptoms include:
- Blurred vision: Blurred vision involves the loss of vision acuity. Focusing on objects becomes difficult, and these impairments can exacerbate anxiety.5
- Tunnel vision: Tunnel vision describes the experience of a narrowed field of vision as if looking through a tunnel.
- Flashes or floaters: This refers to the perception of bright lights, flashes, or tiny little flecks floating across your perceptual field.
- Eye strain: This is experienced as an achiness or fatigue in the eye muscles.
- Eye twitching: Twitches occur when the eye muscles or eyelid experience spasms or uncontrollable movement. This effect can pass quickly or last a more extended period.
- Light sensitivity: This is experienced as a sensitivity to bright lights, meaning focusing on tasks can become difficult.
Can Anxiety Cause Blurred Vision?
We experience anxiety in our bodies and minds, and these feelings often trigger a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response that affects our equilibrium. Chronic anxiety can negatively influence the endocrine system and vascular systems, both of which can affect vision. While anxiety-related vision changes can vary from person to person, symptoms usually affect both eyes equally. Additionally, the unpredictability associated with these effects and blurred vision can be distressing and worsen anxiety.
Possible causes of anxiety vision changes include:
- Pupil dilation: Stressful situations can stimulate the fight or flight response, which sends the body into a hyperalert state. The body and brain work together to help a person absorb information by expanding the pupils to let in more light. In turn, our field of vision widens as if using binoculars to scan the distance.
- Muscle tension: Anxiety can cause muscle tension everywhere in the body, including the eyes. People often don’t realize how tense they are when anxious until they relax. Tension in the eyes leads to strain and achy eyes, which can cause eye fatigue and temporary vision impairment.
- Reduced tear production: Many people experience dry eyes. Anxiety can worsen this condition, leading to eye strain and blurred vision.7
- Hyperventilation: Anxiety and panic attacks can cause hyperventilation. Heavy, rapid breathing can throw oxygen and carbon dioxide levels out of balance, contributing to blurry vision.
- Hypertensive retinopathy: Chronic anxiety can contribute to high blood pressure. In some cases, hypertension can cause retina damage and blurry vision.
Can Anxiety Cause Blurred Vision & Dizziness?
Anxiety can affect the body and mind in many ways, sometimes resulting in dizziness and lightheadedness. As anxiety triggers the release of cortisol and adrenaline in the body, these hormones negatively affect the vestibular system, leading to dizziness or vertigo. Additionally, blood pressure drops can contribute to these symptoms.
Other Causes of Blurred Vision
Blurred vision can be attributed to a wide variety of causes unrelated to anxiety or stress. These factors range from acute to chronic disorders.
Potential causes of blurry vision may include:
- Astigmatism
- Cataracts
- Brain or eye cancer
- Diabetes
- Corneal abrasion
- Detached retina
- Eye infection or inflammation
- Farsightedness
- Fatigue
- Migraine
When Is Blurred Vision an Emergency?
Seek immediate help if blurred vision comes on suddenly with no direct cause. Medical emergencies that result in blurred vision include stroke, blood pressure spikes, head injury, retinal detachment, and eye injury.
Options For Anxiety Treatment
Talk Therapy – Get help from a licensed therapist. Betterhelp offers online therapy starting at $65 per week. Free Assessment
Psychiatry for Anxiety – Looking for anxiety treatment that prioritizes you? Talkiatry can help. Find an in-network psychiatrist you can see online. Get started with our short assessment. Visit Talkiatry
How to Cope With Anxiety & Vision Changes
Anxiety is a common experience many people face. Luckily, you can take different steps to reduce symptoms and the likelihood of anxiety-related vision changes. Basic wellness practices, such as eating a healthy diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep, are helpful. As your ability to manage anxiety increases, you can learn to cope with stressors as they occur.
Here are some proactive steps to reduce anxiety:
- Mindfulness and meditation: Runaway thoughts often exacerbate anxiety. Meditation for anxiety and mindfulness help a person acknowledge and accept negative emotions as they pass. These practices help you stay grounded, reduce stress, and potentially prevent blurred vision caused by anxiety.
- Exercise: One of the most helpful self-care techniques is regular exercise. Exercise reduces anxiety by releasing endorphins and providing a distraction from stress.
- Maintain a healthy diet: Eating regular meals and foods that help anxiety may reduce symptoms. These foods include protein, complex carbohydrates, fresh fruits, and vegetables. Avoid simple carbohydrates or high-sugar foods.
- Monitor your fluid intake: Be mindful of how much water you drink throughout the day. Staying hydrated can help stabilize mood, as dehydration affects emotional well-being. Also, avoid sugary drinks, caffeine, and alcohol.
- Practice healthy sleep hygiene: Sleep and anxiety are closely linked, as overthinking, stressful thoughts, and rumination often contribute to insomnia. By improving sleep hygiene, individuals can relieve anxiety caused by a lack of sleep.
- Seek psychoeducation: You gain a better sense of control by learning about anxiety and its effects on the body and the mind. Identifying specific triggers provides you with the ability to plan for future stress.
- Have a “game plan” in place: Approach stressful situations with a “self-rescue plan.” These techniques might include positive self-talk, mini-mindfulness, and grounding techniques.
- Practice breathing techniques: One of the quickest ways to quiet an anxious mind is through anxiety exercises like slow, deep breathing. Engaging in breathwork before, during, and after a stressful situation can improve your ability to cope.
- Try coloring: Many adult coloring books for anxiety are available to help calm your mind and body.
Treatment for Anxiety
While anxiety-related blurry vision is inconvenient, treating the underlying issues can help prevent future occurrences. Like other symptoms of anxiety, prevention is preferable to treatment. Therapy can help you learn to recognize and respond to triggers, reducing their impacts on normal daily functioning.
Treatment options for anxiety may include:
- Somatic therapy: Somatic therapy focuses on identifying the somatic feelings related to a stressor to calm the mind and reduce distress.
- Cognitive behavior therapy: CBT for anxiety can help individuals identify the negative thoughts, beliefs, or emotions that influence behavior. Replacing these unhelpful thoughts with positive alternatives can assist in symptom management.
- Dialectical behavior therapy: DBT for anxiety focuses on emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and mindfulness. Learning these skills can help individuals prepare for and cope with stress, reducing the likelihood of anxiety-induced vision changes or symptoms.
- Medication: For some people, anti-anxiety medications are the best choice. Various prescriptions are available, and individuals should consult a physician to determine which option suits their needs.
- Yoga: Yoga incorporates specific movements, meditation, and breathing practices to promote calm and self-awareness. These practices provide an outlet for anxiety and stress.
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction: MBSR is a highly structured program designed to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression. Practitioners engage in breathing practices, body scans, mindfulness, and meditation.
- Exposure therapy: Exposure therapy for anxiety gradually exposes individuals to triggers to reduce discomfort and distress. Clients practice strategies for managing anxiety as their confidence to handle anxiety increases.
- Guided imagery/visualization: Guided imagery meditation for anxiety creates a calm, secure, and safe space to combat anxiety. Effective visualizations typically involve all the senses (i.e., imagining what you see, feel, taste, smell, and hear). As with meditation, practice can help you overcome and let go of disruptive thoughts that interrupt your mental imagery session.
When to Find Professional Help for Anxiety
Everyone experiences anxiety, usually as a response to stress. However, consider seeking professional support if anxiety symptoms interfere with normal daily functioning. Finding the right therapist takes courage, but taking the first step can offer relief. An online therapist directory can help you locate both in-person or online options. Some people find success on mental health apps, like Noom Mood, when managing anxiety.
In My Experience
Additional Resources
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