Glasses And Disconnection

[Venusian]

For the first time I need to wear glasses. I have been using reading glasses for the past couple of years but whenever I spoke to someone or did anything other than close work I took them off. A month ago I saw an optometrist and found out that I needed distance glasses too. It wasn't a surprise, but it seemed like all of a sudden I couldn't focus on the television 10 feet in front of me. It is a great feeling that now I can see things in focus across a field and down the road. I can drive without the glasses but now everything is much better.

The thing is, when I wear the glasses I feel disconnected from the world. I know that it is only an illusion but there have been a couple of instances that make me wonder if it is a good thing that I am wearing them while I drive. I have good peripheral vision and I bought glasses that had the least amount of frame and could still support the progressive lenses. It took a few weeks to get them adjusted so that I could see distance and reading and everything inbetween. There is still some distortion and maybe that is part of my problem.

It is just so damn easy to dissociate when I feel a little bit of stress. When I wear the glasses I can't look at the ground in front of me when I walk and it forces me to look up and ahead. It feels like a barrier to the world I am travelling through and it is esy to think I am not really there. In heavy traffic I have to take my glasses off or I can't tell exactly where I am. (I have sideswipped curbs on roads I have driven down hundreds of times with no incident).

Maybe it is just an adjustment period that will get better with time but I don't want to injure someone in the meantime. It is almost like a curtain being pulled aside when I take my glasses off. I feel more present when I have my glasses off even if things are out of focus.

Does anyone know what I mean? Any advice on how to get past this?

 

[Whitneys story]

Venusian, I would highly recommend your return immediately to your optometrist. There is an adjustment
to wearing progressive lens. But your description is likely a misfit on the balance of the glasses and lens. And how
they sit on your eyes.

Be safe!

 

[PinkSugar]

I dislike my looks in glasses, I've switch over to contacts 80% of the time and I completely forget I'm wearing them. I would feel like the glasses were a bag over my face and people couldn't really see me.

But do get your prescription checked!

Best of Luck!
Emm

 

[Misul]

Venusian,

I dissociate in glasses sometimes and mostly it's because of how they bend light. Everything seems farther away and I get the fish bowl effect which gives me headaches. Contacts don't do this and it's more like natural vision.

I have worn glasses since i was two years old. I have something called degenerative myopia (which is NOT anything like macular degeneration!) which in my case is leading towards blindness. I hate wearing glasses. There will always be some obstruction because of the frames. Even if you get rimless frames, there is always the edge of the lens that will be in your way. Many people just get used to this over time and it doesn't bother them, so I'd give it time. It's like blind spots in your car.

Having said that, I'd give anything to get rid of my glasses. I didn't wear contacts until I was a teenager and so I had never seen what I looked like until then. I can't see anything without my glasses so I couldn't even look in the mirror and see myself without contacts. Of course, I'd had school photos taken, but we don't look the same in photos. When I first saw myself, I was so shocked and thought I was ugly. I came close to having a nervous breakdown because of it. I got used to it and realized that I'm quite good looking. Now I can't stand how I look in glasses; as PinkSugar stated, people only see my glasses, not me. I'm back to not seeing my face again and glasses just cover up my face because they are so thick.

I can see color and texture better in contact lenses, too. I can't see print as well, though. I think it's only the high myopia patients like myself that actually see better in contacts, but if it's something you're interested in, I'd ask your optometrist about it. Ask him/her if you are a good candidate for contacts. I know you already paid for your glasses so you might not be able to afford contacts, too.

Misul

 

[Venusian]

I don't know what it is about these things that makes me dissociate. Maybe it is the distorted vision around the spots that are clearly focussed. I have gone in to the store where I bought my glasses and had another adjustment made. It is a little better and I will try this for another couple of weeks. I wish I could wear contacts but they don't make bifocal contacts and the other option was to get contacts for distance but I would still have to wear reading glasses.

It is just an odd feeling, and something I wasn't expecting. I knew there would be adjustments and I knew it was going to take a little bit of time but that feeling like I was watching television instead of being where I was is a little unnerving. I don't know if it is the PTSD or if that happens to everyone when they adjust to these things. I never had that feeling when I wore sunglasses. It isn't like dissociating with a flashback, and watching TV is about as close as I can get to describing the feeling.

 

[Misul]

They do make bifocal contacts! If you are wanting contacts, please look into it.

I agree that looking through my glasses is like watching TV. That's a really good description.