How do I get rid of light sensitivity from anxiety? (2023)

How do I get rid of light sensitivity from anxiety?

Manage light triggers and light sensitivity

One of the best ways to reduce photophobia and corresponding anxiety is to manage your light-specific triggers. For fluorescent lighting and screen-related triggers, you can use precision-tinted indoor glasses (like TheraSpecs) or wear a hat indoors.

During anxiety, the eyes are preparing to fight or flee, leading to light sensitivity, eye strain, and other related symptoms. Hyperventilation may also cause eye-related problems. The effects that anxiety has on the eyes are best treated with an anxiety reduction strategy, rather than treating the eyes themselves.

The single-most effective tool for combating photophobia is precision-tinted glasses, specifically those tinted with FL-41. Research has shown these lenses to relieve even the most chronic of light-sensitive individuals, whether they have migraine, blepharospasm, post-concussion syndrome or another disorder.

You may stand at a risk of light sensitivity, if you are suffering from any of the mental health problems like depression, anxiety, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and bipolar disorder. People with mental health are more prone to having photophobia.

This pooling blood in the brain action can make a person feel faint or woozy. Many people experience a lightheadedness, dizzy, or woozy feeling because of an activated stress response due to behaving anxiously.

Once the cause has been resolved, photophobia goes away on its own. If you're on medication that helps manage your light sensitivity, we recommend consulting your eye doctor to see if you need to increase your dosage or replace your medication.

Eye and vision anxiety symptoms common descriptions include:

Experiencing visual irregularities, such as seeing stars, shimmers, blurs, halos, shadows, “ghosted images,” “heat wave-like images,” fogginess, flashes, and double-vision. See things out of the corner of your eye that aren't there.

Most stress-caused eye issues are temporary, but make sure to see your optometrist if you have any eye concerns, especially any symptoms listed above. The sooner an issue is diagnosed, the sooner any eye concerns can be corrected.

Mental stress can affect your eyes, and lead to visual distortions and even vision loss. Fortunately, most stress-related vision problems are temporary and will disappear as soon as you begin to relax.

Research has found that the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin help reduce light sensitivity symptoms. Consume dark green vegetables such as spinach and collards, which are high in lutein and zeaxanthin. Always wear sunglasses outside, especially on bright days.

What vitamin helps with light sensitivity?

Vitamin A is an antioxidant that protects the cornea, or outer surface, of the eye. It also maintains function of the retina, the light-sensitive lining that converts light into nerve impulses sent to the brain. Vitamin A is especially important for scotopic (low-light) vision and color vision.

Most patients with light sensitivity because of a concussion will notice a gradual improvement in their symptoms over time. The majority of patients with this condition will heal completely in 2-4 weeks..

Anxiety sensitivity refers to the extent of beliefs that anxiety symptoms or arousal can have harmful consequences. There is growing evidence for anxiety sensitivity as a risk factor for anxiety disorders. Anxiety sensitivity is elevated in panic disorder as well as other anxiety disorders.

Home care. Staying out of sunlight and keeping the lights dimmed inside can help make photophobia less uncomfortable. Keeping your eyes closed or covering them with dark, tinted glasses can also provide relief.

For example, someone with high anxiety sensitivity might fear the dizziness that comes with being anxious, thinking it means they're going to snap and have a mental breakdown. Another might fear the pounding heart that comes from walking into a room of strangers, thinking a heart attack is around the corner.

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

your worrying is uncontrollable and causes distress. your worrying affects your daily life, including school, your job and your social life. you cannot let go of your worries. you worry about all sorts of things, such as your job or health, and minor concerns, such as household chores.

What Might Cause Light Sensitivity to Occur Suddenly? If your eyes are suddenly sensitive to light, it could be from changes in lighting conditions, impending migraine, eye dilation, head trauma, eye injury, infection, retinal detachment, or some prescription side effects.

Photophobia is a symptom that describes light sensitivity. If you notice your eyes are now more sensitive to light, talk to your healthcare provider. Photophobia can be a symptom of a medical condition like migraines, certain eye conditions, or a mental health condition.

What triggers light sensitivity?

According to Medline Plus from the National Library of Medicine, some causes of sensitivity to light include: Eye inflammation. Corneal abrasion or ulcer. Wearing contact lenses too long or lenses that fit poorly.

Constant, severe stress levels and subsequent releases of adrenaline lead to consistent dilated pupils and an eventual light sensitivity. This can lead to the twitching and tightening of eye muscles, which causes stress-related vision problems and eye discomfort.

From the time of diagnosis, an anxiety disorder can last from a few months to many years. Most people will have symptoms of an anxiety disorder for a long time before seeking professional help, sometimes up to 15 years³.

When your vision is misaligned, it can cause blurred or possibly double vision resulting in dizziness, imbalance with walking, and visual over-stimulation (such as crowds, carpet patterns, busy wallpaper, malls, high ceilings, freeway driving, etc.) resulting in feeling anxious and overwhelmed.

Reduce stress – Since stress, including anxiety-caused stress, is a common cause of vision symptoms, reducing stress can reduce episodes of this symptom. Any stress reduction strategy can help improve this symptom.

Some people use magnesium to treat and prevent migraine symptoms, including a severe headache, visual disturbances, sensitivity to light and sound, and nausea and vomiting.

Vitamin D deficiency is more common in people with photosensitivity due to their efforts to avoid sun exposure. Oral vitamin D supplementation (2000 or 5000 IU per day) is inexpensive and should be prescribed for these patients.

In general, riboflavin deficiency causes aversion to light (photophobia), inflammation of the mouth, face, and tongue (glossitis), excessive oiliness of face and scalp (seborrhea), and angular stomatitis (fissures and inflammation of the lower lip).

Is sensitivity to light serious?

If you develop light sensitivity when you did not have it before, you could have an underlying problem ranging from injury or infection in the eye to a stroke or cancer. Treating light sensitivity requires a medical diagnosis, and you may need eye drops or prescription medication to manage the condition.

Sudden light sensitivity can be a sign of a more serious condition, like meningitis, so if you experience sudden on-set symptoms, you should see your GP as soon as you can.

Possible Causes of Increased Light Sensitivity. You're exposed to more environmental triggers. If you find your light sensitivity is getting worse, it could be that you are being subjected to triggers in the environment at a greater volume and/or duration.

People who struggle with anxiety are often more sensitive than the average person to bodily sensations. Whereas some people might ignore particular physical sensations, anxious individuals may be hyper focused on them.

Difficult experiences in childhood, adolescence or adulthood are a common trigger for anxiety problems. Going through stress and trauma when you're very young is likely to have a particularly big impact. Experiences which can trigger anxiety problems include things like: physical or emotional abuse.

Anxiety sensitivity was originally seen as a vulnerability factor for the development of panic disorder. It is conceptually distinct from anxiety itself and instead involves one's response to anxiety symptoms, or the 'fear of fear.

Photophobia is a symptom that describes light sensitivity. If you notice your eyes are now more sensitive to light, talk to your healthcare provider. Photophobia can be a symptom of a medical condition like migraines, certain eye conditions, or a mental health condition.

In general, riboflavin deficiency causes aversion to light (photophobia), inflammation of the mouth, face, and tongue (glossitis), excessive oiliness of face and scalp (seborrhea), and angular stomatitis (fissures and inflammation of the lower lip).

A little sensitivity to light when going from relative darkness to a bright surrounding is normal, and as you've probably experienced, typically fades quickly as your eyes adjust. But if you have photophobia—the medical term for extreme sensitivity to light—light can actually hurt your eyes.

How do you test light sensitivity?

Because light sensitivity can be difficult to diagnose, there are two new diagnostic tools that have been introduced: the ocular photosensitivity analyzer (OPA) and the visual light sensitivity questionnaire-8 (VLSQ-8). The OPA is an automated instrument that determines your light sensitivity threshold.

Vitamin D deficiency is more common in people with photosensitivity due to their efforts to avoid sun exposure. Oral vitamin D supplementation (2000 or 5000 IU per day) is inexpensive and should be prescribed for these patients.

Uveitis Linked to Vitamin D Deficiency

Sensitivity to light, blurry vision, floaters, pain, and/or redness are symptoms of uveitis.