Eye contact

[rach79]

Hi Everyone,

I hope someone can help me.

For the last few weeks I've been having major anxiety about my left eye. I can't make eye contact with people because I'm scared that my left eye is going off in a different direction and it makes me panic.

I've really been obsessing about this and I've been taking photos and videos of my eyes (which I know seems crazy), just to make sure that they look straight. And even if they are, I convince myself that they look wonky. It consumes every minute of my day and I feel sick at the thought of having an eye that goes off in the other direction.

I've always suffered from anxiety and OCD for as long as I can remember but recently due to personal difficulties at home, things have been much, much worse recently. I remember feeling like this a few years ago and convincing myself that I had a lazy eye but it passed and I never thought about it again.

Something seems to have triggered it again though and I'm panicking about panicking about it because I know that as long as I'm obsessing, the worse it's going to be. And in the meantime I literally can't look anyone in the eye and its ruining my life.

Has anyone else experienced this? Can anxiety affect your eyes focusing?

I'm going out of my mind worrying about this, I've booked an appt with an optician for this week too.

Please help! Thank you in advance for reading.

Rach

[BobbyDog]

Your optician should be able to put your mind at rest and rule out any underlying problems. I have this affliction and have regular eye checks and my eyes are good. Sometimes when I am talking to someone I stare and become very conscious of my eye contact or lack of it with that person. I think the only way to tackle this is not to let the fear stop you socializing, otherwise the anxiety has won - and we all need some human contact occasionally. I am not saying this is easy, I deal with it on a daily basis, even in my local shop, I dread going to the check-out, but it does not stop me. Hopefully one day the obsession will pass, for you, myself and others suffering with this problem.x

[rach79]

Thanks so much for replying BobbyDog. I'm going to try not to let the anxiety get the better of me. I'm just extra anxious now to see what my optician says when I go to my eye test. If it turns out that I do have a problem them I'm going to be even worse than I am now lol.

[BobbyDog]

Thanks so much for replying BobbyDog. I'm going to try not to let the anxiety get the better of me. I'm just extra anxious now to see what my optician says when I go to my eye test. If it turns out that I do have a problem them I'm going to be even worse than I am now lol.

Try not to worry too much, if there is a problem, they should be able to correct it and you wont have to worry about how your eyes appear to anyone anymore. If there isn't anything wrong, keep doing the exposure therapy, I know it is frightening, but stay strong.

[Nora3452]

This may seem real, but it's not a huge issue. I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you.

[nosweat]

Hello :) I think it is purely OCD, is there any way you can do self talk and say to yourself "it is ok if my eye is lazy." Sometimes when you tell yourself its ok to experience that which you are trying so badly to avoid it solves to problem or helps to alleviate it. Try it while you are talking to someone and see if your emotions about it change. My friends mom had a lazy eye and it never made me think badly of her, she was one of the nicest people I've ever met. But again, it sounds like obsessing to me because you said it went away then it came back. Sounds purely mental to me. I hope this helps and you feel better :)