I'm leaving the Escapist.

[JoJo]

Sorry to hear that, I don't know what I'd do with that condition. Hope you get better soon!

 

[Cal Mackay]

Obviously I don't know you but it's sorry to see someone who enjoys the escapist have to leave because of medical issues. Hopeful it get's better and maybe you can return one day, if not I wish you many years with your fateful peepers

 

[Jailbird408]

That's really bad and I feel sorry for you. May I ask a question or two? Are you one of those people who watch really close to the screen?

Not THAT close to the screen; I roughly sit about 40 cm away from the screen.

 

[smithy_2045]

Enjoy your post-Escapist life.

 

[Danny Ocean]

Look on the plus side: You'll get a lot of stuff done in the time you previously spent unproductively staring at computer screens.

The things you could do with an extra thirty hours a week of free time.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Is there something wrong with your eyes, or is it only because of looking at a screen for too long? I would find it hard to believe that it could happen to anyone. People all around the world have to look at computer screens for 8 hours a day at work, and maybe more when they get home and play video games or surf the web or whatever. So, what's wrong with your eyes? And is there a reason you're not using a darker screen or ctrl+mmb to magnify the page?

 

[Nouw]

D'awwwww that's just sad. On the bright side, at least you'll have an extra thirty hours in your week! You could go to that museum you always wanted to go to or go to the gym!

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Anyway, when my mother and the optometrist were talking to each other, I overheard the word "astigmatism" being thrown around. So is anyone's wondering what exactly I have, that's the best answer I can give you.

Take it from a guy who has worn glasses for the better part of his life: astigmatism will NOT make you go blind under any circumstances. Furthermore, even the old CRT monitors were never hazardous to your eyes at reasonable distances. If you have an LCD/LED monitor, you will not have any problems, except perhaps for eyestrain from sitting in front of it at short distances for extended periods of time (harmless, though irritating at times).

Now here's a fun fact: light from monitors is not different from other light sources, at all. If the monitor is going to make you blind, so will the sun, a lamp, car headlights, digital clocks, candles, etc.
If that's really what your optometrist said, I suggest you find somebody who isn't an incompetent quack. Otherwise, I'd be curious to hear the exact nature of your condition as well. At any rate, the best of luck and health to you!

 

[Jailbird408]

Anyway, when my mother and the optometrist were talking to each other, I overheard the word "astigmatism" being thrown around. So is anyone's wondering what exactly I have, that's the best answer I can give you.

Take it from a guy who has worn glasses for the better part of his life: astigmatism will NOT make you go blind under any circumstances. Furthermore, even the old CRT monitors were never hazardous to your eyes at reasonable distances. If you have an LCD/LED monitor, you will not have any problems, except perhaps for eyestrain from sitting in front of it at short distances for extended periods of time (harmless, though irritating at times).

Now here's a fun fact: light from monitors is not different from other light sources, at all. If the monitor is going to make you blind, so will the sun, a lamp, car headlights, digital clocks, candles, etc.
If that's really what your optometrist said, I suggest you find somebody who isn't an incompetent quack. Otherwise, I'd be curious to hear the exact nature of your condition as well. At any rate, the best of luck and health to you!

Hmm... Interesting. Maybe ilikemilkshake was right and mom DID bribe the optometrist to get me to go outside more. Then again, the sun CAN make you go blind...

 

[Laser Priest]

I wish you better eyes. Good luck, my internet friend that I just met.

 

[Korak the Mad]

I'm so very sorry that you are slowly going blind, that really does bite, but I hope that your eyes get better, and you will be missed.

Obviously I don't know you but it's sorry to see someone who enjoys the escapist have to leave because of medical issues. Hopeful it get's better and maybe you can return one day, if not I wish you many years with your fateful peepers

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Best of luck.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Anyway, when my mother and the optometrist were talking to each other, I overheard the word "astigmatism" being thrown around. So is anyone's wondering what exactly I have, that's the best answer I can give you.

Take it from a guy who has worn glasses for the better part of his life: astigmatism will NOT make you go blind under any circumstances. Furthermore, even the old CRT monitors were never hazardous to your eyes at reasonable distances. If you have an LCD/LED monitor, you will not have any problems, except perhaps for eyestrain from sitting in front of it at short distances for extended periods of time (harmless, though irritating at times).

Now here's a fun fact: light from monitors is not different from other light sources, at all. If the monitor is going to make you blind, so will the sun, a lamp, car headlights, digital clocks, candles, etc.
If that's really what your optometrist said, I suggest you find somebody who isn't an incompetent quack. Otherwise, I'd be curious to hear the exact nature of your condition as well. At any rate, the best of luck and health to you!

Hmm... Interesting. Maybe ilikemilkshake was right and mom DID bribe the optometrist to get me to go outside more. Then again, the sun CAN make you go blind...

I'm not saying it is not possible to go blind from visible light (~200-750nm), but that would involve some serious damage to your eyes, optic nerve damage, rod/cone degeneration, and so forth. It is physically impossible for light in that wavelength range to cause any damage otherwise. If you have such a condition, I would encourage you to find out immediately!

UV light is a different story, as it is energetic enough to break chemical bonds (visible light typically only causes excitations from HOMO to LUMO, at least in organic compounds). The interaction of light and molecules is really quite interesting, and much too broad a subject for me to explain here, sadly. But here's something I want you to take away from this: the shorter the wavelength of light, the more energy it has (blue/violet are more energetic than red light, for example). More energy means...more energy! A tautology, I know, but the rules of quantum mechanics are such that two photons of energy X do not cause electronic excitation of 2X in a molecule, which in our example would be enough to break a bond. In other words, if the optic receptor were to require light of ~100nm in order to break apart, two photons of violet light (~200nm) would not be sufficient. This in turn means that brightness, which is another measure for the number of photons that you see, is not going to harm your eyes. Yes, there's the whole snow-blindness thing, eye strain, and so forth, but those are temporary effects.

I would seriously confront your mother about this. If she admits that it was all just some way to get you off the intertubes, kindly relay the following:
"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Misinforming a child about health issues is no different from any other form of child abuse. You fucking suck at being a parent. Go die in a fire."

 

[duncants]

Dude, I don't know if it is at all possible, but i'd get a second opinion if I were you. Preferably one you could go see alone..

 

[Zersy]

SNIP

I am interested in what was the exact diagnostic ?

 

[Jailbird408]

Anyway, when my mother and the optometrist were talking to each other, I overheard the word "astigmatism" being thrown around. So is anyone's wondering what exactly I have, that's the best answer I can give you.

Take it from a guy who has worn glasses for the better part of his life: astigmatism will NOT make you go blind under any circumstances. Furthermore, even the old CRT monitors were never hazardous to your eyes at reasonable distances. If you have an LCD/LED monitor, you will not have any problems, except perhaps for eyestrain from sitting in front of it at short distances for extended periods of time (harmless, though irritating at times).

Now here's a fun fact: light from monitors is not different from other light sources, at all. If the monitor is going to make you blind, so will the sun, a lamp, car headlights, digital clocks, candles, etc.
If that's really what your optometrist said, I suggest you find somebody who isn't an incompetent quack. Otherwise, I'd be curious to hear the exact nature of your condition as well. At any rate, the best of luck and health to you!

Hmm... Interesting. Maybe ilikemilkshake was right and mom DID bribe the optometrist to get me to go outside more. Then again, the sun CAN make you go blind...

I'm not saying it is not possible to go blind from visible light (~200-750nm), but that would involve some serious damage to your eyes, optic nerve damage, rod/cone degeneration, and so forth. It is physically impossible for light in that wavelength range to cause any damage otherwise. If you have such a condition, I would encourage you to find out immediately!

UV light is a different story, as it is energetic enough to break chemical bonds (visible light typically only causes excitations from HOMO to LUMO, at least in organic compounds). The interaction of light and molecules is really quite interesting, and much too broad a subject for me to explain here, sadly. But here's something I want you to take away from this: the shorter the wavelength of light, the more energy it has (blue/violet are more energetic than red light, for example). More energy means...more energy! A tautology, I know, but the rules of quantum mechanics are such that two photons of energy X do not cause electronic excitation of 2X in a molecule, which in our example would be enough to break a bond. In other words, if the optic receptor were to require light of ~100nm in order to break apart, two photons of violet light (~200nm) would not be sufficient. This in turn means that brightness, which is another measure for the number of photons that you see, is not going to harm your eyes. Yes, there's the whole snow-blindness thing, eye strain, and so forth, but those are temporary effects.

I would seriously confront your mother about this. If she admits that it was all just some way to get you off the intertubes, kindly relay the following:
"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Misinforming a child about health issues is no different from any other form of child abuse. You fucking suck at being a parent. Go die in a fire."

I did confront my mother, as best as I could. Turns out the astigmatism was just a hunch, and the truth is that I am actually getting increasingly short-sighted. But she won't budge on anything else. If she really is making up these treatments in full knowledge that it won't make a lick of difference whether or not I follow them, then she's not admitting it.

 

[Dark Knifer]

Damn, that's really crap... I hope all goes well for you and your eyes make a full recovery...

 

[TacticalAssassin1]

Sorry to hear the news. Best of luck with your eyesight. I'm sad to see a member of the Escapist go.