Strabismus and Mental Illness - Mayo Clinic

[kitty3309]

It is refreshing to have a doctor relate strabismus to mental health issues but my squint is inward so is at odds with the research. I`m waiting for another surgery as mine has returned and with it being sunny here now I`m wearing my sunglasses a lot more. The thing that hurts me is how people are so much nicer to me when I have my shades on! People can be so rude, it`s no wonder it affects us mentally. I can`t wait to get it fixed again.

[Painnnnful]

@snkn64 lol :) my eye turns inward and I DO have mental illness-bipolar, anxiety, history of OCD, anorexia and bulimia. Such a nice combo...

[JuniorandViktoria]

Ran out of space to type :) I also wanted to say, I am a very successful realism artist and score high on an IQ test, so although I have no depth perception and never will, I am quite proud of that and think it is really amazing.

[JuniorandViktoria]

Well, I have it. I have surgery to correct it, three so far. I do not beleive this mental illness relation he talks of. I think people who have strabismus and a mental disorder with it are that way because of the EXTREME pressure of having a wondering eye/lazy eye..... the eyes are the windows of the soul, and it is very hard to look people in the eye, all the time you fear someone will notice and make fun or talk about it. The stress on kids who have it is terrible.

[ZDdisturbed]

@JuniorandViktoria you said you had three surgeries so far. is it looking normal now or do u need more surgeries? i had one surgery but i am still not satisfied with results

[JuniorandViktoria]

@ZDdisturbed No, I will continue to get the surgeries. Sometimes they last several years, others just a few. The last one I had I went in for a touch up afterwards. Would be nice if it lasted a lifetime, but for me that has not been the case. Both eyes are effected for me however.

[ZDdisturbed]

@JuniorandViktoria I am sorry to hear that :(

For me it's only the left eye that is affected. i was wondering, after the surgery does it look normal, centered (before you realize it is time for another surgery)? because my eye is not completely centered, the doctor said if he did it there would be a great chance that it would go in a different direction than before the surgery :(

eyes are a window to the soul, so i really want to do it right . Thank you for your reply :)

[mayoclinic]

@ZDdisturbed

I don't quite understand the question. But basically, yes, in most cases the eye should look straight (parallel one to the other) after surgery but some patients may need more than one surgery. Dr. Mohney

[ZDdisturbed]

@mayoclinic Thank you for replying. I had one surgery and it's not centered as it it supposed to be so i will go to another doctor. not being able to show your photos to anyone and to look someone in their eyes is a bit frustrating sometimes. Thank you again :)

[anonwillprevail247]

i had strabismus and im depressed but not nearly as bad as i was. i had corrective surgery and it worked well. i also have ADHD and a few other mental issues =p weird

[ZDdisturbed]

@anonwillprevail247

i also had a surgery but i am not completely satisfied with results. of course , it looks much much better, but it is still not centered the way i want it to be. what about you? does it look normal or is it still a bit uncentered?

[anonwillprevail247]

@ZDdisturbed there centered but once someone took a picture of me and i must have been looking in a weird way cuz my eyes went out and up it was fuckin weird =p

[Alimaleo]

lol so what am i if i can make my eyes turn in and out? XD

[Fahad140]

I have sqiunt in right eye when i try to watch with my right eye i cant watch or read clearly, i think that this might be due to head injury in brain when my eye was hitten by a wall, i was running without seeing forward.

[real1abcda]

not really surprised about the probability of mental illneesses, because ppl with strabismus are ppl who always fear to fully trust someone, no wonder they get sick

[bayman15]

@ merrilee53 I feel the same way except I'm a dude. I had surgery in march and it has really helped me look better. Before my surgery I was constantly worried about people making dun of me, and for ten years I had to deal with it. So I am very grateful for my surgery.

[merrilee53]

I had surgery at 19 and am in my fifties now and it still bothers me. the surgery at 19 changed my life. before that everyone ignored me, after that i had dates and guys interested in me.. doctors and insurance people need to know that it affects you so much. my eyes arent perfectly aligned but a better. i wear glasses and find myself so tired at times.. i've had depression and anxiety most of my life

what you look like especially if you're a girl matters.. think about..

[Adaeze611]

my eyes turn inward...I've dealt with metal illness. I've always noticed it and hated when kids would look at me like a freak...damn that sucked! well I'm 22 now and usually when I dont get enough sleep its more obvious, but I;ve overcome depression, anxiety and other crap fairly well, without any medication. So I guess maybe from a recovery standpoint, the inturned eye peaople may not be exempt but advantageous when it comes to moving in a positive direction

[TommyDaB1G]

so im insane. am i? :D

[LostNinja22]

I have an outward turning eye and have recently been going through moderate to severe anxiety and i am in my early twenties... interesting and scary... Majority of it is probably caused from worrying and caring too much about social interaction because of my eye.

[alawooz]

You need brain surgery...

[Borat2borat]

My sister has this. Her eyes turn inward, even with glasses. But she is very sociable and doesn't seem to be very affected by it so far.

[mooshoo56]

I have worked with all kinds of patients (all ages and visual issues) for 10 years and you can do an awful lot to turn your vision around. I know because of the hundreds of successful outcomes I have been involved in through the years. See a Developmental Optometrist. You need a Comprehensive Visual Assessment that goes way beyond the standard 20/20 exam. 20/20 is only about 5 per cent of vision and the remaining 95 per cent is rarely known of and thus, not even addressed!!!

[emeraldsunsets]

Is it still working?

It's getting done for me in 2 days

[bobrec3GTI]

the only reason i have experienced depression is because of the knowledge that people can see my wandering eye

[lampwizit]

@bobrec3GTI hey man, i think i have the same condition, didi u fix it? if u did tell me how

[bobrec3GTI]

@lampwizit hey i have purchased this convergence/divergence eye exercise software.. it really works if you stick to it.. i use the convergence part of the software since i have a convergence insufficiency. the brand name of the software is called CVS.. theres probly newer ones out there since the version that i have is from 2003. you should go to an eye doctor who knows about convergence/divergence insufficiency and strabismus. let me know if u have any more questions

[jamiesue131]

i have an outward turning eye and am in my twenties i have suffered from depression.. this is very interesting I have never heard of that

[donkey69donkey69]

an enormous % of gifted children in various fields seem to have an inward turning eye. has anyone else noticed this?

[UFO6NewWorldOrder]

yeah i've been getting above 90% my whole life in art classes and am a music producer n talented in many other ways.

[hadoukensf4]

masseter muscle!

[ruthlessgravity82]

i have strabismus (cross eyes/surgery) and i'm weird but not 'ill'. my uniqueness made me a great artist.

but a strange coincidence. i can 'mirror write' in cursive with my left hand, but write normally with my right.

...i like siamese cats btw :)

when something doesn't work the brain compensates and surgery may agitate it. two aligned eyes that don't fuse still cause confusion

also maybe the resulting distorted processing and memory side effects are stressing

[ruthlessgravity82]

usually i function fine except for when i'm reading or on a computer, or in a crowded place

...then again those things are kind of...important...

[alawooz]

hadoukensf4 - I too suffer from a severe case of strabismus. I had four surgeries on both eyes and in time the condition returned and my eyes drifted.

Eventually I was taken to Russia where they specialize in Strabismus and they provided me with various treatments (not surgery) These helped correct the divergence but I still suffer from double vision and my eyes can never work together and in fact are in battle always. I tend to close one eye these days and I feel so much better!

[hadoukensf4]

yeah im getting my eye stitched shut

[hadoukensf4]

ok yeah, youve seen it straight after surgery , go check the statistics, the musles will almost 99 percent revert after a period of time.

[hadoukensf4]

operations never work, its a fact. i feel this offers false hope, and offers them a false chance of a normal life, this shouldnt be offered, the fact that they are always going to look different should be stated from the get go, so they can get used to the fact they will never look normal, but there is a way they can feel normal, which is extremly more important.the fact is they dont have to feel different tho by closing the eye up and are capiable of living a normal life

[hadoukensf4]

as i said im now 20, so im having to make this decision with the added pressure knowing that i may have mental health problems, i eat extremly well, and am in very good physcal condition, which has only been achieved via wearing an eye patch with gave me back my life, now i no im in good health mentally and physically i have made this decision, to close my eye up forever.

[hadoukensf4]

this lack of being able to look outwards causes you to look inwards, almost like being blind, with the added effect that you can actually see what your missing out on. i imagine if you look on a site or forum with people with one eye theres a greater rate of success than with this condition, so i feel the abiltiy to have the eye closed should be considered as a treatment and at a younger age so they can get used to it with out making the decision them selves.

[hadoukensf4]

im angry with the lack of information provided. as i think the mental issues are exhasibated by the fact people just assume you dont like how it looks so your not looking at people and tell you to do so.which is not true, imagine not being able to focus on anything, just havin one vast image with lack of focus. all of this i have been going through by myself, with no one telling me that it actually feels uncomfortable 24hours a day, you start to believe you are crazy. its all in your head.

[hadoukensf4]

i am 20 years old, and have found the only way i can survive is by wearing an eye patch and completly blocking out the image of my bad eye, which seems to also relax my muscles, i feel my mind relax, ive worn a patch for two years, now ive come to the conclusion the only way i can keep my sanity is by having my muscles detatched from the bad eye, and the eye lid muscles weakened so it stays closed and then have it sewn shut. i feel this should have been stated to me whilst i was younger,

[hadoukensf4]

i can obviously tell all the people who come up with the theories dont have issues with their eyes obv. for a second think how much of your world is visual, its like having two broken cameras which alters your state of mind as your mind is in constant frustration.

[hadoukensf4]

its almost impossible for the mind to relax and your vision is in constant battle, you can feel your muscles behing your eyes fighting and struggling.ive been tols on some occasions i may have body bysmorphic and so on. i feel this is all incredibly naive and ignorant.

[hadoukensf4]

hi this is interesting , my eye turns out , i feel the reason why this causes effects with mental health is not the issue with how it looks cosmetically, although this is what first casues issues, once i overcame that its purely how uncomfortable it feels,

[nommie20]

Are you saying that you have never had this surgery in your life? I have strabismus too, and sometimes when I'm tired it gets really annoying but this is why I'm having the surgery in some days. You should try the surgery yourself, and not play the doctor and try to solve the problem all alone, cause you harm yourself by that.

[kitty3309]

Interesting. My eye turns in and it has ruined my self confidence and self image and worth.

[CattyNebulart]

Thanks very much for posting this! I've found little research on this topic, but my mother suffers from a complex of mental illnesses including bipolar disorder. My mother's 'strabismus' gets worse as she goes un-treated, her eyes return to normal as she is treated for an extended period of time. Her eyes are turned outward. It seems none of the doctors are informed about the underlying organic/biological causes of these illnesses. It has been a difficult road to getting help for her.