Good vision plays a crucial role in your overall wellbeing, far beyond the ability to see clearly. While the physical ability to see is important, you lose more than just clear sight when your vision begins to deteriorate. Poor eyesight can significantly impact your mental health and negatively affect your mood and long-term wellbeing.
Since the world is a predominantly visual place, it’s not easy to navigate with poor vision. This is why so many people are getting procedures done, like LASIK eye surgery, to restore their vision as close to 20/20 as possible. This procedure helps people with cataracts, glaucoma, and several other eye conditions caused by refractive errors. With an 80%+ success rate, it’s no wonder LASIK has become popular and available all over the world. People find that when their vision improves, so does their emotional state. It gives them more confidence in life, and allows them to participate more fully.
Understanding the connection between vision and confidence is crucial for your psychological wellbeing. Once you understand this connection, you can take the steps required to improve your vision and protect it for the future.
Visual clarity is connected to cognitive function
Let’s face it: if you’re struggling to read books, magazines, or even content online, you’re probably frustrated. The more frustration you experience, the more stressful your life becomes. With stress comes impaired cognitive function, and that can lead to even more anxiety, stress, and even depression.
On the other side, when you reduce stress and anxiety, you’ll feel better and more grounded in your life. You might be surprised to see how much your emotional wellbeing improves when you enhance your vision.
Clear vision supports confident social interactions
Good visual acuity is crucial for engaging with your surroundings, and when you lack good eyesight, you’ll struggle with social interactions and activities at work. For example, your boss might ask you to read some materials during a meeting, and that can be stressful. You might also struggle to read people’s facial expressions or not catch the finer details because your eyes aren’t taking in the full picture. Whatever you struggle with, it’s going to take a toll on your mental health. However, it doesn’t have to be this way.
While not everyone can restore their vision to perfection, many people have found ways to improve their eyesight. Here are just some of the benefits you’ll get from pursuing vision improvement techniques:
- Better social connections. When you can see faces clearly, you can read people better. Also, when you aren’t straining to see all the time, your face will rest in a more natural expression and you’ll seem friendlier and more approachable to others.
- More self-confidence. When you can see better, you won’t experience so much stress and anxiety over having to read materials at work, read a menu, or just relax with a good book.
- Better sleep. Once you can see better and your stress levels drop, it’s easier to get a good night’s sleep.
- Access to more activities. Chances are, there are things you want to do but can’t because you’re stopped by poor vision. If you can improve your eyesight, these activities will open up to you. When you engage in physical activities, you’ll get an endorphin boost, which can directly impact your mood in a positive way.
4 Simple things to improve eyesight
While you can’t restore perfect vision overnight, and not everything will work for everyone, there are some things you can do.
- Stop smoking
Smoking cigarettes is one of the worst things for your health. Research has shown that smoking damages blood vessels in the retina, which can lead to blurred vision and even vision loss.
- Eat leafy greens
Nutrition plays a powerful role in eye health, and it’s important to eat leafy greens and foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Typically, that would be fish.
- Wear blue light glasses
Blue light coming from digital screens puts intense strain on your eyes. Wearing blue light blocking glasses will reduce the strain on your eyes.
- Consider reading glasses
If your eyesight isn’t that bad (yet), consider glasses or contacts. It won’t correct the problem at the root, but it will boost your confidence.
Take care of your eyes to nurture your wellbeing
As you start to understand the relationship between vision and psychological wellbeing, it becomes clear that prioritizing eye care is a crucial investment. Whether you get regular check-ups, corrective surgery (like LASIK), or use nutrition and exercise to boost your health, you’ll be establishing a foundation for a happier life.
