Although, fear, frustration and grief are natural reactions in blind patients and their guardians, the effects go beyond all of these and is further escalated with time if proper steps are not taken.
Many people have a negative stereotype of a blind person and they self-impose that idea. They see themselves as an outsider and different from the rest of the society, which has a serious effect on their self-esteem.
“When blindness occurs it’s like they’ve lost the previous person they were and they have to come to terms with who the new person with the sight loss is going to become,” (Ms Rosemary Robinson, Psychological Impact of Blindness – Optometry Today)
Patients were often wary about how their vision would change in the future following a diagnosis.
“When losing vision there is often the fear that they will go in to total darkness when, in fact, rarely this is the case,” Ms Robinson added. Losing the ability to see familiar faces and sights that bring people pleasure was a significant loss. Although a scene or object could be described to someone with sight loss, it wont be the same.
“It can be very different seeing it in your mind’s eye and it can be a source of frustration,”
Many Blind Individuals/Patients have not completely scaled through the different phases of coming to terms with sight loss, including trauma, shock and denial, mourning and withdrawal, and succumbing and depression which has caused so many to stay depressed for long and become suicidal.
The effect on some others are different as it has caused some form of retardation.
This in turn brings to light, the whole purpose of blind rehabilitation, which aids in rebranding their mind’s eye, equipping them with knowledge and skill needed to communicate and to be reintegrated into the society, making them excel regardless of visual impairment.
REFER A BLIND CHILD/ADULT TODAY for Rehabilitation and change the course of their destiny for good.