Anxiety: Could it be caused by Binocular Vision Dysfunction?

Anxiety is an extremely common mental health issue and is estimated to affect at least 30% of adults at some stage of their lifetime. Anxiety is characterized as a negative emotional response to something that is happening in your life. How everyone experiences anxiety is different. Some people will experience it mildly, and it may only last a short while. However, some people suffer from anxiety much more severely and it can impact their ability to function day to day, ultimately affecting their quality of life.

Anxiety can be caused by many things, and again, every patient is different so what triggers anxiety in one person may be entirely different to another. Many people find that their anxiety is triggered by a fear or phobia. This is where someone has an extreme fear of a specific situation, activity, creature or object. For example, someone who has a fear of the dentist may experience anxiety when it comes to attending an appointment. However, anxiety can also be caused by past trauma, not being able to fulfill obsessive compulsive routines or they can even happen for no obvious reason.

What are the symptoms of anxiety?

Anxiety can manifest in a wide variety of symptoms, some of which are physical as well as psychological. These include:

• Feeling faint/like you are going to pass out

• Dizziness

• Racing heartbeat

• Sweating

• Nausea

• Headaches

• Chest pain

• Shortness of breath/short, fast breathing

• Tight muscles/muscular pains

• Shaking

• Insomnia

• Hot and cold flushes

• Irrational thoughts

• Overreacting to small and inconsequential things

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

You can experience just one of these symptoms, although it’s normal for patients to have a combination of them. Anxiety shares its symptoms with many other conditions. Sometimes anxiety can be a symptom of another underlying issue, which is the case with Binocular Vision Dysfunction.

What is Binocular Vision Dysfunction?

Binocular Vision Dysfunction, which is known as BVD for short, may not be well known, but it is an extremely common visual condition. BVD is characterized by the slight misalignment of the eyes, which happens because the eyes are unable to work together in perfect synchronicity. Although the misalignment is very slight, and not obvious, it can have a very real effect on your vision.

People who have Binocular Vision Dysfunction find that their brain struggles to process and interpret the images that their eyes see. This is especially true when they are presented with things that cause visual overload, such as being in a moving vehicle where things are passing by quickly, or in a very large area where there is just too much to take in. Since the brain is unable to manage the visual input it is receiving, it sends panic signals to the brain and it is this that causes the symptoms that anxiety and BVD have in common. Since many people don’t know a lot about BVD, they mistake these feelings for anxiety, when in actual fact, they are caused by the slight misalignment in their vision that is making it hard for their brain to process what they are seeing.

The good news is that it is possible to determine if your symptoms are caused by BVD with just a 5 minute self test. Not only this, but our expert team can recommend effective treatment that can help. If you are suffering from the symptoms of unexplained anxiety and suspect it may be BVD related, call our office at (805) 626-3400 to schedule an appointment.
 

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