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Mental health problems arising from sight loss are “sidelined”

This news post is over 4 years old
 

Royal Blind and Scottish War Blinded have joined forces with the Mental Health Foundation Scotland to publish new research

The mental health problems that arise from sight loss are too often sidelined, leaving people to cope with depression and anxiety on their own according to a major new study published today (23 Dec).

Sight loss can have a significant emotional and psychological impact on people’s lives, with fear, isolation, loss of self-esteem and depression having an impact.

Yet according to a new study by Royal Blind and the Mental Health Foundation Scotland, emotional support is rarely offered on diagnosis by statutory health services, leaving many people with sight loss to cope on their own.

Nearly 400 people with sight loss took part in the research which found that 85% of those who took part had experienced challenges to their mental health as a result of their visual impairment. However, two thirds (63%) indicated they had not been offered mental health support such as social prescribing, counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help them manage their long-term condition.

Royal Blind and Scottish War Blinded, who are sister charities, have joined forces with the Mental Health Foundation Scotland to publish the report Emotional Support for Sight Loss. The charities have made a number of recommendations, including increasing the awareness of the mental health needs of people with sight loss in health and social care services and better signposting to support.

Commenting on the publication of the report, Mark O’Donnell, chief executive of Royal Blind and Scottish War Blinded, said: “A diagnosis of a sight loss condition is a life-changing event, and for people who are born with visual impairment there can be a range of emotional impacts as they face barriers and stigma which still exist in our society.

“Our research identifies a range of mental health challenges as a result of sight loss. These include young people requiring counselling to help them manage anxiety linked to their visual impairment, people needing emotional support when their vision deteriorates further and veterans with sight loss experiencing chronic mental health challenges. The findings in the report also make it clear there isn’t enough awareness of the emotional impact of sight loss, or enough support for people with visual impairment for their mental wellbeing, and this needs to change.”

Lee Knifton, director of Mental Health Foundation Scotland, said: “Visual impairment is not just a physical condition, it can have a profound psychological impact and people should expect to receive emotional support when they need it.

"People shouldn’t be left to cope with emotional distress on their own. Sight loss affects people in different ways – that’s why person-centred support is so important. One to one counselling, social prescribing and peer support groups can help people overcome their fears and anxieties and help them feel more in control of their lives.

"If support is offered effectively at an early stage it can prevent anxiety and depression developing into severe, clinical conditions. That’s why today we’re calling for tailored, person-centred support to be offered upon diagnosis of sight loss and at different stages of a person’s support plan.”

Dr Mhairi Thurston, programme leader for MSc Counselling at Abertay University, said: “I am delighted Royal Blind and Scottish War Blinded have conducted this valuable piece of research. It is clear that people with sight loss are still not getting the psychological support they so need and deserve.

“People with sight loss need different types of support at different points in their sight loss journey. I think there is still some work to be done around normalising psychological support in all its forms, especially for the older generation, who can sometimes view asking for help with mental health as a sign of weakness. I would love to see specialist counselling services become routinely available for all visually impaired people. Effective counselling can radically change lives for the better.”

You have to fight battles all the time

Mental health problems arising from sight loss are “sidelined”

Kirin Saeed, 50, is a Braille proof reader at the Scottish Braille Press. Kirin was born partially sighted, losing her sight entirely at the age of 11. She went to Chorleywood College for blind and partially sighted girls. Kirin says she learned to cope with losing her sight as a child, but further deterioration in what little vision she had left as an adult affected her greatly.

Kirin had retained some light perception but lost this at the same time as her husband died. “This had a massive emotional impact for me. It started with a physical impact of losing my light perception. It meant than when I walked downstairs I felt like I was going to be tipped over. This made me anxious and affected my confidence, but people still expected me to be able to cope which put further stress on me.”

Kirin has never been offered counselling to deal with the impact of her visual impairment. She sought bereavement counselling when she lost her husband, but this didn’t address the effect of her further sight loss on her emotional wellbeing.” I felt like because I had further sight loss at the time of my bereavement, the counselling helped me with one part of what I was going through, but not the other.”

Kirin believes there is not enough awareness of the impact of disability on mental health.

“Emotional wellbeing is not recognised enough in the disability community. Too often people think they just have to get on with it, and yet you have to fight battles at all levels so much of the time. You have to constantly argue for support, argue your case for equipment, argue your case for help with access to work. This is stressful in itself.”

Kirin says lack of awareness of visual impairment in society can impact on emotional wellbeing too. “People are always asking me how I lost my sight and whether there will ever be a cure for it. I know they are well meaning but always being asked this has an impact too.”

Kirin says being in employment has made a big and positive difference for her. “The biggest thing to help me get in a better place has been getting the job at the Scottish Braille Press. The opportunity to get employment, and the right kind of work. It gets me up, gets me active, I meet other people and at the end of the day I can go home and relax. The right workplace, offering you support makes a huge difference and really helps you confidence.

Through work, I’ve been offered opportunities to be involved in other activities such as consumer rights and research. I have really enjoyed being involved and knowing that I am making a positive impact.”