The Grieving Process

Usually when we think about grief we only think about the loss of a loved one. We can also experience extreme grief in other situations, including the one we face after being diagnosed with a vision impairment which will ultimately send us legally blind. In fact, we are really grieving the loss of our vision, our independence, our hopes and dreams for the future.

I hope my experience was unique, although I highly doubt it was, but I truly felt abandoned at my time of diagnosis, like I was left in the dark by health professionals and given no guidance, no encouragement and no hope. As I have mentioned previously, I was told “you have a condition called Stargardt’s Disease, there’s no treatment, so there’s not really any point in us seeing you again unless you face problems in the future”. I walked out of the ophthalmologist’s office feeling lost, confused and helpless. Being a person who you could probably describe as a perfectionist, I had my whole life planned, aspirations, goals, career paths, and it was all taken from me without any real explanation. I began grieving the impending loss of my vision and all that would follow.

A common model of grief (Kubler-Ross model) talks about five stages of grief. When grieving, you can go through the stages and then revert to a previous stage. The experience is different for each individual. Denial is commonly the first stage. “I don’t have this condition I see fine” or “they must have it wrong, we have no family history of eye disorders” were common thoughts I had. I really think I spent the last two years in and out of denial until I received the result of my genetic testing which finally confirmed that I have the faulty gene.

Anger then follows, “why me” or “thanks mum and dad for giving me rubbish genes”. The thought of “why me” went around and around in circles in my head. I was also angry about the timing, just finishing my degree and with my independent adult life ahead of me.

Another stage of bargaining also takes place. This made me search for hours on end for alternative methods to halt the process, diets , supplements, miracle cures that were hiding somewhere. Although this is not necessarily detrimental, if it gets to the point of being all consuming it can be quite distressing.

Of course depression shows its head in the process. This stage is probably the most likely to reappear. Just as you think you are coping ok, bam, he’s back. I’ve allowed myself to have the days where I do get down about the situation, as long as I promise myself I will get back up. It is ok to feel sad, we are losing an integral sense, but we need to remember that there’s a way through this.

Finally we meet acceptance. I don’t think I’m there yet. I may tell myself and others around me that I have accepted my condition, but deep within me I know I haven’t. It’s also hard to truly accept a degenerative condition because just as you start feeling at ease with the situation, your vision deteriorates and you feel as though you are back to square one.

All in all, it is absolutely normal and healthy to feel each one of these emotions and different times. I highly recommend speaking to a professional. I think it should be mandatory that when a person is diagnosed with a vision impairment they are offered counselling and support. Also talking to family and friends can help with the process, after all, it is likely they are grieving with you and feel even more helpless than you do as they don’t know how you feel or how to help. We should all remember that to feel this way is normal and know that you are not alone.

Below are some helpful links.

Headspace Australia - Grief

Beyond Blue Australia

Mental Health America

Mental Health Foundation UK