How to Support a Loved One Suffering from an Eye Condition

Sight is one of the five senses and is easily one of the crucial factors in our day-to-day lives. One would always need sight in everyday life, like school, work, and hobbies. However, it cannot be helped that some conditions can hinder our eyesight; some are treatable, and some aren’t.

It is difficult for anyone to suffer in conditions that affect something necessary for our routines. Deterioration or loss of eyesight can drive an individual to a decline in mental health on top of the optical condition they already have. If you have a loved one or someone else suffering from distress with this condition, here’s what you can do to help.

Provide Helpful Forms of Assistance

The best way to help someone suffering from any medical condition is to help them in any way you can. You can offer physical help, like being their caregiver or doing some housekeeping, or financial aid, like help to pay for medical necessities like consultation fees for checkups.

Financial aid is beneficial as medical expenses can be too much depending on their condition. Eye health has concerns, from conditions like astigmatism to illnesses like glaucoma. It also has many treatments, from getting prescription glasses to even surgery. 

You can help lessen your loved one’s financial burden by offering to pay off some of their needs, like their medicines, treatments, or more. You can also contribute by doing simple things like driving them to the hospital or giving them coupons for medicines, especially the ones their doctor prescribed, like certain oral antihistamines to prevent itching or painkillers from helping relieve pains from a recent surgery.

Giving your loved one something as simple as a Tramadol HCl coupon (if prescribed) can go a long way. When you know your loved one needs something, always try to help in any way possible, as eyesight problems can be more burdensome than most people think.

Be Attentive

To know how to help someone, you need to listen to them and look out for them. One of the things you need to give your ailing loved one is attention. Knowing when your loved one needs assistance will mean a lot to them regarding both physical and mental health, significantly when their eye condition has affected their well-being, like visual impairment or even blindness.

Besides assisting them whenever they need it, you should also try to check on their well-being from time to time. There is more to one’s health than just physical. 

According to the CDC, Americans with vision loss might likely develop mental health issues, with depression and anxiety the most common. People with visual impairment or loss may develop feelings of anxiety, fear, and helplessness and could isolate themselves. 

It would help to check from time to time if they consistently show symptoms of mental illnesses, and if they do, speak with them about it and try getting them to seek professional help.

Encourage them to Seek Treatment

If you know someone suffering from any eye condition that has never been addressed medically, you may want to let them know they need their eyes checked. This is especially if they think their eyesight has significantly worsened through time, has affected their daily activities, and they have done nothing so far to address the situation.

It should be alright if your loved one is open and willing to do a checkup. Hopefully, that will be the case, as it could be challenging to convince them if they were stubborn. The more time they go untreated, the greater the risk of their condition worsening.

Talk to your loved one about it as much as possible. Share your thoughts on their condition, perhaps let them know that what they are experiencing may not be so good for the long term, and suggest seeing their doctor. Gently explain that seeing the doctor will figure out the issue with their eyesight and could provide helpful Treatment.

Know their Schedules and Routine

If you are your loved one’s caretaker or someone who helps them with their routines, studying them and remembering their schedules and duties is necessary. People with eye conditions can always look after themselves independently, but other factors like old age, forgetfulness, or mental illness can hinder that.

As much as possible, you may want to remind them about some of their commitments regarding their health. It could be as simple as asking if they have taken their meds or remembered their doctor’s appointment.

Be Kind

Lastly, always exercise kindness when you assist your loved one with anything regarding their condition. Remember that their health issues could already be challenging for them, and they need compassion aside from physical or medical assistance. Moreover, be patient and sincere with whatever help you can offer them.

To Sum it Up

Medical conditions that affect one’s sight or even any of the five senses can be unbearable, and we must seek medical help. So if your loved one is experiencing unusual vision loss, always get them to a doctor as soon as possible. Remember to also be kind and patient to them and provide help as much as you can.

 

Image Credit: Photo by Amine Mayoufi from pexel.com