Can Blurred Vision Be Due To Anxiety? 5 Signs That Vision Alterations Are Due To Anxiety

Anxiety can affect our body in different ways. Some people may feel dizzy due to anxiety or even perceive certain strange sensations due to anxiety. In fact, there are cases where people can experience blurred vision due to anxiety. So, how can you know if this disorder is the cause of having blurry vision?

It is obvious that if you experience any vision problem you should immediately go to your family doctor. Only a professional can diagnose the true cause behind a cloudy or blurred vision Still, for some people it is a symptom of anxiety.

When is blurred vision due to anxiety?

Feeling anxious can end up overwhelming the five senses, including the eyes, which means that the body cannot concentrate on a fixed point. This can happen especially when you experience anxiety attacks. Although anxiety is a completely normal human reaction, the reality is that when it is experienced overwhelmingly or excessively it can lead to a series of physical and mental changes. Therefore, in some cases, people may experience certain vision disturbances due to anxiety

Even so, we must keep in mind that anxiety is not a very common cause of suffering from a suddenly blurred vision Due to this, to identify if this reaction is due to this disorder, some recommendations to take into account are the following:

1. Fight or flight response: When anxiety appears, the body activates a series of mechanisms that are known as a fight or flight response. Because of this, you can experience various physiological changes that involve a release of stress-related hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones cause you to experience changes in blood pressure, heart rate, breathing, and more.
2. You are more nervous: In general, vision usually becomes clearer when a person experiences anxiety. This is because the stress response that is triggered is an adaptive process that allows you to improve your senses to more easily identify threats in the environment. Still, you blurred vision may be due to anxiety Because when the stress response is activated and you experience too much nervousness, your blood pressure can increase so much that you may notice that it is difficult to concentrate on what is around you.
3. Concentration problems: There are many occasions in which anxiety causes concentration problems due to all the responses it triggers in our body. This precise effect is where alterations in the anxiety vision So much so that some studies have shown that this disorder may also be associated with an increased risk of dry eyes.
4. You suffer from chronic anxiety: The cases in which it may be more common to suffer from eye discomfort due to anxiety They are precisely those in which this disorder has become chronic. This is because, on many occasions, people who feel anxious more frequently may have problems satisfying their needs (due to the demands placed on our body by the state of alert that anxiety implies). Therefore, not being able to satisfy these needs can cause problems such as dehydration, something related to blurred vision.

It is important to keep in mind that suffering from blurred vision or seeing flashes in the eyes due to anxiety They are not the most common symptoms of this disorder.

Symptoms that indicate that your blurred vision is due to anxiety

There are some symptoms that can help you identify if your blurred vision is due to anxiety:

1. Sensitivity to light and movement: Anxiety can affect our eyes and cause a cloudy vision so that you may experience some sensitivity to light, making it difficult to concentrate and focus.
2. Eye twitches: Anxiety can also cause eye twitches that cause some discomfort.
3. Have very dry eyes: Dry eyes can also be caused by anxiety.
4. Eye strain: The feeling that your eyes are tight and puffy can also be caused by anxiety.
5. Suffering from flashes in the eyes: Anxiety can also cause seeing small dots or flashes in your eyes.

If you suffer from any of these symptoms recurrently, it is essential that you see a doctor. Also, if you think that you blurry vision It may be related to anxiety, we recommend that you go to a mental health professional.

What other vision alterations are due to anxiety?

As anxiety triggers the release of different stress hormones, it can cause different reactions in our body. Some of them can affect the vision not only making it blurry, but also the following:

• See flashes
• Have eyestrain
• Suffering from eye spasms
• tunnel vision
• Lack of concentration
• Light sensitivity

These effects tend to be more common when suffering from an anxiety attack. Even so, fatigue, eye twitches or concentration problems are usually more associated with the long-term effects that stress or an anxiety disorder can have on our body.