Vision

@This Ocd Life Sucks Mine gets overactive as well and it super scary. Thank you for sharing this with me. I hope you feel better too❤️. I’ve never experienced this before. It’s all very new to me so it’s been scary and raises my anxiety more.

@marissa_stanulis Ive been dealing with the vision issues since April so it’s fairly new to me. When I first noticed it I freaked out and immediately contacted my therapist who told me vision changes are very common with anxiety and OCD. But when it happens I just remind my self it’s my anxiety and ocd and say this to will pass.

@This Ocd Life Sucks I didn’t even know this was a thing. I’m so glad I’ve met someone else who had something similar. How long do your episodes last?

@marissa_stanulis Mine happen randomly throughout the day. It really just depends on how much I pay attention to it after the first time it happens. lol I tend to focus on it after the first time I notice it and that probably makes it happen more. I can go a week without it happening too. But yeah I didn’t know it was a thing either. It still scares me so bad when it happens.

@This Ocd Life Sucks Yes it’s scary how our anxiety can trick us into focusing on such a small things. I don’t blame you it’s so scary. It’s nearly impossible to unfocus on it once it starts. I had a severe panic attack over it today thinking I was losing sight. This just started this week for me so…. Have you found anything that helps?

@marissa_stanulis The only thing I have found so far that helps is I’ll go into my room with all the lights off and lay with my eyes closed for about 30 minutes to an hour and it seems to help. Idk if it’s like a reset for me or what. If I’m out somewhere and not able to do that I’ll put on sunglasses and that helps me too. I hope you can find some relief. Feel free to message me with any other questions.

@This Ocd Life Sucks Yes that’s actually what I ended up doing yesterday and then took a shower it helped a bit but I was still freaking out. Thank you so much. I will be in touch🤍

@relaxingcherry Like almost like a derealization. It feels grainy and some spots and floaters. Blurry vision at times. They feel like overly sensitive to different movement and light. Sorry I’m trying to explain the best I can.

@marissa_stanulis no need to apologize. i’ve experienced that for as long as i can remember. i’ve always had very poor eyesight too though so i just always assumed that’s where my floaters and spots i would see come from. i get very fixated on them sometimes.

@relaxingcherry Thank you for responding and sharing that with me. It eases my mind a bit. It makes me feel better that I’m not alone ❤️😊

@marissa_stanulis Have you heard of migraine prodrome before? I get similar symptoms the day before I get a bad migraine

@Anonymous I’ve never heard of that before. I don’t seem to get a migraine or headache afterward—just the strange visual changes. I’ve heard it could possibly be an ocular migraine, but what I experience feels more like derealization. My vision looks grainy, I notice spots, and everything around me just looks strange or unreal, for lack of a better way to describe it. It has been really frightening, and I’m wondering whether this can happen with severe anxiety or OCD.

@marissa_stanulis This is called visual snow and can intensify when anxious. Most people have some sort of visual snow (graininess, floaters, etc.) but they don’t focus on them most of the time because the brain just filters it out as unimportant. When you’re anxious and your brain is scanning for something wrong, you’re more likely to notice it and it may seem worse because you’re focused on it. Just like intrusive thoughts seem worse the more you focus on them. Knowing that it’s normal and moving forward helps it fade back into the background. 🫶🏻

@moontana Thank you so much for you response. As much as I try I can’t get it out of my head. Do you have any tips ?!🥹