satoruvash

In my previous entry titled “How many phobias can YOU get from reading the Bible?” I blogged about phobias. This entry is more personal. I suffer from Photophobia, which is not a phobia in the usual sense.

Most phobias are abnormal, excessive, and irrational, whereas Photophobia is usually an appropriately rational response. According to the Oxford concise Colour Medical Dictionary, it is “an abnormal intolerance of light, in which exposure to light produces intense discomfort of the eyes with tight contraction of the eyelids and other reactions aimed at avoiding the light.”

Photophobia:
Eye pain in bright sunlight, incandescent and fluorescent light.

Contrast between an object and its background is reduced, stopping you from properly seeing what you are looking at.

One example of this type of glare visibility is when bright headlights from an incoming car can stop you from seeing the road. Another, is when sunlight shines on a TV and the contrast of the picture diminishes or disappears. The second example is rather benign. However, the second illustrates the potential dangers in public places. In a domestic setting, a sudden increase in brightness when dicing vegetables can have dire consequences.

Headaches may also result from light sensitivity. The discomfort can be reduced by avoiding sunlight, closing the eyes, wearing dark sunglasses with UV protection, and darkening a room–such as by closing blinds or drawing curtains. It is also helpful to shield light sources to prevent direct light from entering the eyes, as well as minimizing glare from paper, texts, blackboards and desktops. In the most severe cases, dark sunglasses must be worn indoors.

Causes:
Those with light-coloured eyes, cataracts and migraine headaches are most likely to notice the sensitivity. It can also be a symptom of albinism, red-green colour blindness, mercury-poisoning, contact lenses, and certain drugs like amphetamines and antihistamines, cannabis, and cocaine.

I once had my sunglasses stolen in a lecture theatre during a particularly sunny day–most likely the primary motivation, the secondary one being that they were a very nice pair. In all, the theft was a very unpleasant experience. The stolen item was not at all easy to replace given that the density of the tint was greater than one would find in regular stores. To complicate matters, the place where I had bought them was out of stock.

I currently live in a very sunny city. It is obviously unwise given the severity of my condition and I intend to move as soon as the opportunity arises. Unless I want to pass out on the street, I cannot go outside without sunglasses. When I venture out, I seek shade whenever possible either by standing under a tree, or by hiding in the shadow of buildings or choosing to walk on the shady part of the street.

At home, all my windows have coverings. My monitor is dimmed and when typing blog entries, comments, or general surfing, I need to periodically give my eyes a rest or they begin to burn and the words glow until they are no longer legible. In buildings with bright fluorescent lights, I need to wear sunglasses unless I want animate and/or inanimate objects to seem as if they are phasing in and out of this dimension, and as a result, risk crashing into them.

Suffice it to say, it affects concentration, which depending on the situation, can be a serious inconvenience. Given the choice of going out at night or during the day, I choose the former every time. It is not surprising then, that all but one of my romantic partners were nocturnal. As a natural consequence, I first met them at night or during the day hiding from the sun.

Considering all but one (Pantheist) of my ex’s were Atheists/Agnostics, I suspect my next romantic partner will be either of the three and nocturnal.