dry eyes leads to depression?

[Diter]

Hi

Several posts suggest that a lot of ppl with dry eyes suffer from depressions. I haven't found much concrete posts about the subject though. Any more information would be welcome.

Greetings

Chandler

[Cindy]

Hi Diter and welcome to Dry Eye Talk!

I think it's reasonable to assume that some people find dry eye depressing .

I think it's also reasonable to assume that clinical and/or situational depression and a diagnosis of dry eye sometimes co-exist. I've had my ups and downs dealing with dry eye but I think from a practical standpoint, I tend to view it from a 'quality of life' standpoint rather from a "am I depressed or am I not depressed" standpoint. I can say for sure that some days I am crabbier about it than others.

Have you seen the various Quality of Life Questionnaires for Dry Eye? There are a few of them. I like using them (and I love it when our doctors use them) because they help indicate just where and how much dry eye interferes with our everyday lives. I know that's not precisely what you have asked but I believe that if a person is depressed about living with dry eye the questionnaires help to identify and quantify discomfort.

Four of the Quality of Life Questionnaires:

The OSDI (Ocular Surface Disease Index) can be downloaded from the DryEyeZone main site encyclopedia: http://www.dryeyezone.com/encyclopedia/osdi.html

McMonnies & Ho: http://www.svyro.com/agingeye/dryeye.asp?new=true

Dry Eye Questionnaire (DEQ):
http://research.opt.indiana.edu/Labs...ctLens/DEQ.pdf

NEI VFQ-25 (National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire):
http://www.rand.org/health/surveys/v...rvieweradm.pdf

[dianat]

Yes, depression has been a part of my life since LASIK induced dry eye three years ago. I cannot blame the depression on dry eye discomfort alone, but must also fault the guilt I experience over having elected the surgery. The guilt is fading as time passes I suppose, but in the beginning of all this when my depression was at its worst, it was a key factor.

Incidentally, I'd never experienced clinical depression in my life until LASIK.

(Isn't it amazing the personal things we'll post for the whole world to see?)

Diana

[Dotanne]

depression and dry eyes

Yes, I experienced anxiety and depression with discovering I had dry eyes, especially when the Dr said it was incurable! My vision was awful, I couldn't see properly to do any close work, bright light was awful, and the thought that I had done this voluntarily made me feel suicidal. I battled on and gave myself little goals even though it felt as though my eyes were smeared with vaseline most of the time. (I couldn't even see my garden plants properly) And they burned and ached etc. I was prescribed propanalol and clonazapam but then learnt that propanalol can cause dry eyes so stopped that and have kept the clonazapam to as little as possible. I take one 5HTP in the evening now. I had been taking HRT too so have gone off that so now get awful hot flushes as well. I have been given progesterone cream for that but have not had much relief yet so that doesn't help. It is 11 months since the Lasik and I am slowly coming to terms with it and trying to think positive as much as possible and go to the gym and keep busy and be with company. Physical exercise helps a lot and I love walking and have bought a mountain bike. I am getting better at looking after my eyes and I think there has been some improvement - my vision is clearer when it is not smeary - but I am seeing about getting goggles with progressive reading lens in the hope that I can do more close up work for a bit longer. It breaks my heart not to be able to read a novel, do my sewing easily and I am not yet brave enough to get on a plane to go on holiday. I hope that once I can get goggles I will be able to do more.
Dry eyes are with you 24/7 and I feel that depression can be a huge problem. The worse the eyes are the worse the depression and vice versa. Mind you I always felt that if my eyes stopped hurting and I could see OK, I would be instantly OK again!!!! I had a broken leg last year(it was almost OK before the Lasik) and I feel dry eyes are far worse! My life style has been drastically altered - even going out in the evening is fraught with problems!
I am so greatful for all the support and advice from this bulletin board - I feel you are all my friends - you have helped me through the worst time of my life. If you ever come to NZ let me know, it is an awful long flight but we have some good high humdity weather!!!! When will we have that dry eye convention? Or cruise?
Dotanne

[dianat]

Dotanne,

It's funny you've welcomed us to NZ. I just had an urge to go there the other day while my family and I watched the first Lord of the Rings movie. It's stunning...and humid...what a plus!

Your above message is so much like my experience. One does find a way somehow, and manages to find new things to enjoy. And, yes, I am also more hermit-like and tend to want to stay in and shy away from social gatherings. I have traveled and have not regretted it. I use my goggles and feel they are essential. I don't step foot out my door without them...ever.

When DEZ has its convention, I'll be there...

Diana

[Rebecca Petris]

We'll be announcing the convention dates and venue in October.

[Missy]

Hi all!
I am almost 3 months out of lasik surgery and I have had extremely dry eyes. I know that I am still pretty early on and I hope and pray that my eyes will get better. Since my surgery I have really been down about my decision to have lasik. It makes me feel horrible to know that I chose to have this surgery thinking that it would improve my quality of life and now I may have ruined my life. I often feel very depressed and alone. I have cried on my husbands shoulder for many hours and I am very sad and scared. I try to be optimistic about my eyes healing because I know that it can happen but at the same time I am constantly thinking about how I will live if they never get any better. Even though my eyes have gotten a little bit better since my surgery, I still constantly worry about them getting worse again. So - yes - I do think that dry eyes can cause depression.

Missy

[dianat]

Rebecca,

I will eagerly await the details of the convention...

DT

[Diter]

Hi all

Thank you all for the replies. They clearify things to me, the questionaires I will have to look into but sounds promising to put things into place.

Most things are quite uncomfortable to do. Even just being in a supermarket is painfull - and thus stressfull I guess. I assume it must be difficult to understand for people who haven't experienced dry eyes.

Some days are just good, but that's seldom and most of the time it's periods where I do have good days in. Dunno why though haven't found any correlations. With prednisone drops I feel quite good and as such much happier.
On bad days on which I experience a lot of eyepain I have noticed I am coniderable more cranky. I hate this but I am not sure how to change it - although I keep trying. The major point is I guess that the eyepain makes most things less unjoyable. I was just wondering if some antideppresents would get rid of me caring about my eyes... may be a little naief i dunno

Greetings

Chandler

[Rebecca Petris]

I think there are a lot of reasons why dry eye can trigger situational depression.

Chronic pain is high on the list. Most people who haven't experienced it have NO idea how much pain and discomfort those little eyeballs are capable of producing... all for want of tears (or the right kind of tears).

Invisible disability is another. For many people with chronic dry eye, MANY daily activities are curtailed - outdoors activities, computer use, whatever - due not only to pain/sensitivity but also in many cases photophobia. I know quite a lot of dry eye patients on disability. But try explaining to someone that you're disabled by dry eye.

Lack of validation is another. That's where bulletin boards occasionally come in handy - there's the "Aha - there ARE other people like me out there - and I'm NOT unreasonable to be affected this much by my eyes!"

I was just wondering if some antideppresents would get rid of me caring about my eyes... may be a little naief i dunno

Many dry eye patients have benefitted from antidepressants BUT it's not by any means magical because even setting aside other side effects, many antidepressants will exacerbate dry eye. Sometimes it takes a fair amount of experimentation to get the one with the best side effect profile for you.

[brown_eyes]

when i was first conscious of havingdry eyes, i soon developped a certain paranoia with myself obout the world. then came about anxiety and the fact tha i could not accept was was going on with me. And indeed, that has come to be quite a way from my inner conscience to my outer lining towards the reality. I had to start a treatment with paxil which ould not be easy for me.
but, then i slowly started to come up with ideas of converting this negative energy to a positive one and then i started to do some yoga while a friend of mine explained to me the principles of meditation.
I slowly started to accept my condition and stopped the paxil while at the same time i came to realise of the ways that would not heal me but let me live better in my life...