Can anxiety cause blurry vision?
Yes, anxiety can cause blurry vision. In fight-or-flight your pupils widen to let in more light, which gives a shallower range of sharp focus and more glare, so things can look slightly blurry.
Try the practice nowWhat happens in your eyes
Alert mode is built for running from a threat, so it drops what does not help you run, like steady vision. In fight-or-flight your pupils widen to let in more light. Wide pupils give a shallower range of sharp focus and let in more glare, so things around you can look slightly blurry or too bright.
At the same time, your attention narrows onto the threat. When your focus locks on one spot, the center of what you look at feels sharp while the outer edges of your view feel dim or far away.
Staring hard, often at a screen, cuts down on blinking, and dry eyes blur until you blink. Over-breathing also lowers carbon dioxide in your blood, which can bring blurred vision along with lightheadedness and tingling.
Why it feels so alarming
Many people check their vision over and over, testing whether text or objects across the room still look sharp. That testing keeps your attention narrowed and holds the alarm high.
Blur from anxiety comes and goes with the alarm and clears as you settle. It does not damage your eyes.
Why it shows up randomly
After weeks of anxiety, your body can stop switching between rest mode and alert mode and stay in alert mode. Because your body holds that state, symptoms can show up on days you do not feel anxious.
This state is trainable with daily practice. Widening your attention to the space around you is the reverse of narrowing onto a threat.
Try Expanded Awareness right now
- Sit comfortably and close your eyes if that is comfortable.
- Bring your attention to the space a few feet in front of you, then let it widen to the space on your left, then your right, then behind you, then above your head, then below your feet.
- Hold all six directions at once, with your body at the center.
- Open your eyes slowly and keep that wide awareness, with a soft, receptive gaze.
When to check with a doctor
- You suddenly lose vision, or lose vision in one eye (call emergency services).
- It comes with a drooping face, weakness on one side, slurred speech, or a sudden severe headache (call emergency services).
- You see a curtain or shadow across your vision, or a sudden shower of floaters or flashes (get seen the same day).
- Your eye is red and painful, or you see halos around lights with a headache or feeling sick (go to the emergency room now).
- You suddenly see double (get seen the same day).
- It stays blurry even when you are calm, or you have diabetes or high blood pressure.
Practice with the Stateshift app
Common questions
Can anxiety cause tunnel vision?
Yes, tunnel vision happens when fight-or-flight narrows your attention onto a threat. What is right in front of you stays sharp while the edges of your vision feel dim or far away.