Blindness and Depression

Blindness and Depression

When you look at an object, what you are actually seeing are beams of light that are refracting off the object and into your eyes. These light rays enter your eye through the cornea, the thick transparent protective top layer of the eye. Next, these light rays pass through the pupil, and then to the lens. When the light goes through the pupil, a small muscle called the iris, the colored part of the eye, makes the size of the pupil change according to the amount of light available. For example, if there is little or no light available, the pupil will enlarge in order to let more light inside the eye. If there is too much light, the pupil will shrink, so that only a limited amount of light can enter. Right behind the pupil is the lens, and the lens focuses the image through a jelly/gel like substance called the vitreous humor, and then to the back wall of the eyeball, called the retina. The retina, which is about the size of your thumbnail, is filled with approximately 150 million light sensitive cells called rods and cones. The rods identify shape, and the cones identify color, both of these cells then send the information to the brain via optic nerve, and wah-lah, you see!

Not all people have perfect vision, these people are visually impaired. Some of them cannot see objects up close, while others cannot see objects far away, and some are completely colorblind. The ones who cannot see close objects clearly are considered nearsighted and the others who cannot see objects at a distance are considered farsighted, but whether a person is either or, it’s nothing that glasses or contacts cannot fix. Blindness, on the other hand, is not that simple

An individual that is blind cannot see anything at all. Sometimes they may be able to tell light from dark, and also which direction the light is coming from, but that is it. Their sense of sight is greatly limited. In America, an estimated 21.2 million reported that they cannot see, even with their correctional lenses, or cannot see at all.

Causes of blindness vary case by case. Some causes include, but are not limited to: disease, injury, a genetic defect, poisoning, or caused by a willful act. Some of the most common diseases that cause blindness are cataracts, glaucoma, and age related macular degeneration. When injuries lead to blindness, it most always involves a direct injury to the eye, or eyes itself. Some genetic defects can lead to blindness. For example, people with albinism often suffer from visual impairment to the extent that some are legally blind. Rarely, some cases of blindness are caused by certain chemicals. A well known example is methanol, which is only mildly toxic, but when not competing with ethanol for metabolism, methanol breaks itself down into the substances formaldehyde and formic acid which in turn, can cause blindness. Sometimes people blind others as an act of vengeance or torture, just to deprive a person of a major sense by which they can navigate and interact within the world.

Many visually impaired or blind individuals are generally depressed, and sometimes even to the point of committing suicide. The number one reason is, of course, that they cannot see like they like to or used to be able to see, or have completely lost their sense of sight. In addition, being a blind individual in a society that can see, one feels left out without their vision, and not normal. Furthermore, they are limited to what they can and cannot do, like jobs and careers, and/or hobbies. Again, as previously stated, the blind do not feel normal but feel left out.

The following is a quick question and answer between me, and a USC University Hospital, legally blind, patient named William Castillos.

Q: Were You Born Blind?

A: No, I was blinded in an accident many years ago.

Q: How?

A: I was working on a car, and it turned out that the battery of the car was broken, and it leaked acid. The acid got into my eyes and I was blinded since.

I explained to him my situation, and began asking him questions about depression.

Q: Do you or did you ever feel depressed because you were blind?

A: At first, yes. I didn’t know how to deal with it, and just wanted to stay at a nursing home to be taken care of. But soon I got over it, and began living a normal life.

End.

Other visually impaired individuals, not just the blind, but the individuals who wear correctional lenses or contacts, also suffer from some depression. For instance, when these children go to school, they face some teasing just because they are wearing glasses to see better, and this teasing and bullying goes a long way and leaves a scar called depression.

Your sense of sight is a horrible thing to lose, and I do not blame the individuals who are visually impaired or blind for being depressed, because as said already, your sense of sight is very precious and it is what allows you to navigate and interact with the world, and imagine your world without it?