"Nearly 400 people with sight loss took part in our research, and the vast majority indicated they had experienced challenges to their mental health a result of their visual impairment."
Our "Social Connections and Sight Loss" report highlighted the emotional impact visual impairment can have. We undertook further research to understand the emotional impact of sight loss.
We joined forces with the Mental Health Foundation Scotland to publish the report “Emotional Support for Sight Loss”.
Nearly 400 people with sight loss took part in our research, and the vast majority indicated they had experienced challenges to their mental health as a result of their visual impairment. 85% said that sight loss had an impact on their emotional wellbeing.
Two-thirds of respondents indicated they had not been put in touch with a service to support them with the emotional impact of their sight loss following their diagnosis. The three top challenges to emotional wellbeing identified in our research were:
- worries about the future
- feeling of anxiousness
- being upset and feeling angry.
For those people who felt their sight loss had resulted in one or more of these emotional responses, they indicated there were a number of causes. These included a loss of confidence, diminished self-esteem and inability to undertake activities they had previously been able to engage in.
Our report (published when Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans were known as Royal Blind and Scottish War Blinded) makes a number of recommendations to improve support for the emotional wellbeing of people with visual impairment.