Dry eye and our mental health

Watch/listen

August 28, 2020 episode

Hosts

Rebecca Petris (moderator)

Aidan Moore (technical support)

Panelist introductions

We always ask panelists to introduce themselves by telling us what state they’re in, what beverage they’re drinking, how long they have had dry eye (and why, if they happen to know), where they are at in their dry eye journey, and what eyedrops they used last.

CHRISTINA is joining us from Columbus, Ohio. Her official diagnosis was in 2017, though she had suspected issues earlier, with constant contact lens use (and maybe, in retrospect, abuse). After grad school she began waking up with searing pain, and that was a clue something was wrong, so she switched to glasses. She also moved from Nashville to Columbus and began seeking answers. Christina is drinking canned bubbly rose, a favorite for her (usually, though not today, Underwood). The most recent drop she used is Retaine MGD, which she uses every couple of hours.

LAURA is joining us from Washington state and is drinking iced coffee. She’s had eye issues for about 15 years. In her dry eye journey, she’s in a good spot right now, having got scleral lenses recently which have been a game-changer for her. She’s also had multiple pro-keras, serum tears, and multiple surgeries. “For now, it’s working for me and I’m happy with it.” The last drops she used were serum tears prior to putting the lenses in in the morning. Now that she’s wearing sclerals, she is using drops much less frequently during the day.

ROB is joining us from Queens, NY (Long Island City) and is drinking water. He had LASIK in 1995 when it was still relatively new. Between then and 2006, he had a total of seven corrective surgeries related to the original procedure. In addition to vision issues, he came away from this with severe meibomian gland dysfunction. From 2006 to 2010 he visited doctors all over the country and in Europe. His current doctor in Boston (whom he’s seen for ten years) has been able to improve his condition a great deal. Rob also wears scleral lenses (PROSE, specifically). In terms of where he is in his journey, Rob describes how he and one of his doctors are working on strategies to reduce the number of things he’s taking for dry eye.

AMANDA is joining Happy Hour for the third time from Madison Wisconsin so she’s keeping her story short today! She’s drinking a double IPA from local Giant Jones Brewing Company. Mandy has had dry since the age of 19 and does not know why. Since this is a mental health session, she describes her current journey stage as working on acceptance. There will be new treatments coming out that make it more comfortable, but this is what her life has become. “I try to do what I can to make my eyes feel good!” including no makeup, few creams or lotions, unscented things, moisture chambers, doing compresses, putting in drops regularly and a gazillion other things. The drops she used last are Retaine HPMC.

REBECCA is joining from the office of the Dry Eye Foundation with a glass of rose wine and lots of water. She has had dry eye for 19 years (since LASIK) and is stable despite flare-ups at times. She is looking ahead to cataract surgery in the near future in hopes of being able to drive at night. She doesn’t use drops much during the day but has a vial of Nutrifill at her computer to douse her scleral lenses if needed.

Highlights

Rebecca opened the discussion portion of the session by explaining that background of how she got involved in trying to create community connections for people with dry eye, and how the mental health impact of dry eye drives everything she does, including starting the Dry Eye Zone in 2005, as well as the shop and eventually the Dry Eye Foundation. She feels that our biggest battles are fought, not in our eyes, but in our heads. Rebecca shared some past and present experiences that have helped fuel her passion, including actual and near deaths by suicide.

She also read something she wrote on the topic of mental health back in 2007, entitled “A dark, dark place” which we encourage you to read.

Then we moved to a panel discussion of the following questions, and ultimately welcomed attendees to join in:

• How would you describe the biggest emotional hit you’ve taken in the course of your dry eye journey?

• What role have eye doctors played in the mental health impact of dry eye for you?

• How have your relationships been affected by dry eye?

• Is there anything you feel could have helped lessen the emotional toll of dry eye if you had known it sooner? What advice would you give your younger self?

It was a terrific discussion and we encourage you to listen!