Tunnel Vision: Responses to Visual Stress

Tunnel Vision: Responses to Visual Stress

Originally published 2/27/2014:

Healthy eyes.  20/20 acuity.

Yet some folks (any age!) struggle to:

• orient themselves
• find what is right in front of them
• relate the details to the context
• relate the figure to the ground
• see the forest for the trees 

Why is it that an eye which CAN see in the periphery (if tested with lights on a dim background) DOESN'T see with a large visual area in the real world? This is a functional form of Tunnel Vision! Tunnel vision is a common response to visual stress. Tunneling is a way in which a person who is overwhelmed, visually or otherwise, may filter out "unnecessary" information.  This helps a person to reduce how much is "on their plate," both figuratively and literally.  Tunneling helps a person limit their visual world to a manageable parcel.   The effects of a tunnel vision response do not limit themselves to challenges of objects "hidden in plain sight." Among the ripple effects of tunnel vision:

• Feeling ungrounded/ unsettled
• Needing to touch things (chairs, tables, walls) for the security of knowing where one is.
• Tendency to fidget excessively/ be in constant motion, to know where the body is in space
• Getting lost -- in the real world and when reading
• Losing place-- skipping lines or words when reading
• Difficulty putting big concepts together in reading comprehension (when reading to self)
• Using a finger to try to keep on track when reading
• Losing items/objects, misplacing things
• Difficulty with team sports/ ball sports
• Tendency to get excessively close to reading material
• Sitting excessively close to television or handheld video game screen
• Tendency to hunch over reading material
• Tendency to curl hands inwards when writing (so that hand covers up the last line of print)
• Tendency for motion sickness/ car sickness

This link is to one such child who was struggling with tunnel vision before getting help. Read Grace's story here:  

Vision therapy helps treat, correct neurological issues

Sound familiar?  These and other signs of struggle may indicate a vision problem.  Read more here.

For an outstanding article on the topic, published in the January 2014 edition of Optometry and Visual Performance, please read: Tunneling-- A Pervasive Vision Disorder, by Jeffrey Getzell

7 comments on “Tunnel Vision: Responses to Visual Stress”

1. Jamshed Zahed says:

   February 28, 2014 at 9:08 am  (Edit)

   Very nice

   Reply
2. Deb Murray says:

   March 5, 2014 at 6:09 am  (Edit)

   Samantha,
   Great newsletter; layout, presentation and links. I am already looking forward to next month’s informative issue and seeing how your dynamic practice is growing!
   Best of luck and congratulations,
   Deb Murray, COVT

   Reply
   • Samantha Slotnick says:

     March 5, 2014 at 11:17 am  (Edit)

     Thank you, Deb! I’m so glad you are enjoying our newsletter!

     Samantha

     Reply
3. lindasanetlindasanet says:

   March 6, 2014 at 9:40 am  (Edit)

   great article!

   Reply
   • Samantha Slotnick says:

     March 6, 2014 at 11:19 am  (Edit)

     Thank you, Linda!

     Reply
4. Eye Health says:

   April 17, 2014 at 4:13 pm  (Edit)

   Great post! Been reading a lot about different cases of eye stress. Thanks for sharing this!

   Reply
   • Samantha Slotnick says:

     April 17, 2014 at 5:21 pm  (Edit)

     Thank you! I’m so glad you find this valuable!

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