BME Design

Day 2: Going Blind

Posted on January 11, 2016

“The prospect of going blind terrifies me,” asserts Joseph Lovett, the film director of Going Blind and a storyteller battling glaucoma. Lovett’s story, in conjunction with six others, alludes to the psychological battle characteristic of a vision loss transition.   The storytellers range in their portrayals of psychosomatic adjustment – indicated by the shift from dubious statements such as, “I don’t want to be identified as a blind person,” to more experienced declarations such as, “You learn to use what you have.” Although Lovett did not indicate mental state of the storytellers, literature suggests 25%-45% of older individuals living with vision impairment express depressive symptomatology (Papadopoulos et al., 2014). Furthermore, there is an evident need for the collaboration between ophthalmologists and mental health professionals to ensure the physiological and psychological strain associated with impending blindness does not develop into depression, as literature suggests that this cyclical effect worsens functioning over time. Thus, for future films, the inclusion of specialists in mental health and patient counseling may improve the understanding of the correlation between depression and vision loss, as well as address concerns about the quality of life of those affected.

Notable Literature and Interesting Reads: