Strabismus and Mental Illness - Mayo Clinic

Brian Mohney, M.D., a Mayo Clinic ophthalmologist, discusses results of a recent study in which he and his colleagues found that children whose eyes point outward are three times more likely to develop mental illness than are children with inward pointing eyes or normal eye alignment.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Strabismus
• mental
• illness
• depression
• ADHD
• ophthalmology
• exotropia
• esotropia

[bobrec3GTI]

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

[donkey69donkey69]

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

[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...

[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 :)

[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]

@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 :)

[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 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]

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.

[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