How to Cope with the Loss of an Eye

You can lose an eye through injury, disease or condition such as cancer. The loss often leads to psychological issues as well as physical ones; you must adjust to a loss of depth perception, the increased difficulty of formerly easy tasks and fears about cosmetic appearances. Coping with the loss of an eye takes some time, but most patients recover from it quite readily and eventually treat it as little more than an inconvenience.

Instructions

• 1

  Understand that you are grieving. The loss of an eye is extremely traumatic, and you need time to mourn the missing part of you. If you accept the fact that grief is involved, you'll be better able to cope with the trauma, anxiety and depression that may arise.

• 2

  Speak with a counselor or therapist about the loss of the eye. Talk about the conditions that led to the loss and the feelings you're grappling with now. A trained psychologist can help you identify the negative emotions and use coping mechanisms to keep them from overwhelming you.

• 3

  Sign up for a vision adjustment class. When you have just one eye, you need to alter aspects of your daily routine, from dressing to cooking your lunch to pouring a cup of coffee. Adjustment classes can help you make the transition easily, minimizing the stress to your life.

• 4

  Practice tasks that you find more difficult until you've mastered them. The more adept you become at them, the less they'll affect your state of mind.

• 5

  Read by holding the book or magazine in front of your good eye, and move the book as you read rather than moving your eye. As with many other tasks, this takes practice, but over time your body will take it on as second nature.

• 6

  Take good care of your remaining eye. The chances of two separate accidents causing the loss of an eye are extreme, but if you lost your eye through a disease or biological condition, you want to keep a close watch. Consult your doctor regularly and follow his advice on healthy eye care.

• 7

  Alter your driving habits to compensate for the loss. Most states in the United States allow one-eyed drivers to keep their licenses. The loss of an eye affects you mostly in close quarters (within 20 feet), which means you must take care in parking lots and similarly tight quarters. You should also consider purchasing a vehicle with no blind spots, and you may want to use wide-angle rear-view mirrors as well. You also will want to wear goggles or sunglasses when you drive, since you'll have to pull over if you get anything in your good eye.

• 8

  Get a prosthetic eye fitted for you, and wear it as often as you can. Glass eyes take some getting used to, and the more you wear it, the better you'll feel about it.