I'm leaving the Escapist.

[JochemDude]

Maybe put some sort of filter on the screen could help you.
Otherwise best of luck.

 

[instantbenz]

ugh, i can't imagine ... as an artist i'd rly be fukd

i'm sorry to hear that ... i suppose you will start listening to more music and have more conversations.

best of luck. i hope your stay here was fulfilling.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Is there a name for the condition thats making you go blind?

Yes, I believe they call it "chronic masturbation"..

Joking aside and on topic.

Hope your eyes get well soon.

I have never seen a porno in my life, let alone masturbated to one. I'm not offended, just wanted to clear that up.

Anyway, when my mother and the optometrist were talking to each other, I overheard the word "astigmatism" being thrown around. So is anyone's wondering what exactly I have, that's the best answer I can give you.

What?! Astigmatism does what, now?

Like several others in this thread, allow me to call BS. I've got astigmatism and my job and studies require me to spend thirty-plus hours in front of an LCD screen. That's not counting my leisure hours that are also spent in front of a monitor. Unless it's really sunny and really hot outside, at which point I go out for a swim. Anyway.

If your ophthalmologist was referring to macular degeneration, then that does make a tiny bit of sense. Same thing if glaucoma was mentioned, really. But - astigmatism giving way to total blindness? I'm really skeptical about that. Sounds like you're the victim of a concerned parent who didn't know what to do to peel you away from teh interwebz and who managed to get a rather unprofessional eye shrink to be complicit in some sort of desperate scheme. What's even more suspicious is the fact that you've mentioned that your mother clams up if asked for extra details.

I'm aware I'm writing this well after you'll have supposedly left, but there's always the off chance that you'll snap and break your vows at some point in the future.

Correct me if I'm wrong and stop me if it's inconsiderate, but it really sounds like someone doesn't want to shell out the cost of a new prescription and is willing to try pretty stupid palliatives. Our bodies wear out over time, dude. I've had the same glasses for ten years now and I'm absolutely due for a review. It's completely normal. I'm not going blind or anything close to that, I just no longer am in my sweet sixteen. I'm 28 years old.

 

[Thespian]

Man, I had readied myself to give a big "Who cares?" to some jerk saying "I blatantly disobeyed the forum rules and I got suspended! How unfair! I'm leaving forever!"

But that's a pretty sad story. Sorry to hear that broski. Good luck with everything, hope you can return soon.

 

[ultimateownage]

I'm so sorry to hear that.
Good luck fighting blindness. Hopefully you'll be able to come back one day. When I clicked on this thread I fully expected it to be another drama queen leaving. Really sad to see someone who actually likes the escapist leaving for once.

I hope the others are right and it's people stretching the truth to get you off the computer. Lying like that would be a little hurtful, but at least it stops you from losing something like that.

 

[Random Encounter]

Terribly sorry to hear about your predicament and I wish you all the best for the future.

 

[iRevanchist]

I'm so sorry man. i can't imagine how hard this must be for you... I hope that scientists will one day be able to come out with a screen that won't hurt your eyes, or be able to fix your eyes permanently. Until then, good luck. You're in our hearts and thoughts.

 

[Jonluw]

I'm with Thethingthalurks.
"You're going blind from looking at your computer screen" sounds like complete and utter bullshit.
Staring at a computer screen all day can cause eye strain and near-sightedness, but the same can be said about books. Still: I have never heard about anyone going blind from eye strain.

Sounds more to me like your mom is trying to forcefully give you healthier habits.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I'd get a second opinion immediately. Screen usage might not be a factor and you might still be going blind regardless. You could be wasting what little time you have left. Check this out with somebody else before you do anything rash.

 

[Something Amyss]

Wow, I might go insane if this happened to me.

 

[Jonny49]

I wish you good luck in your future endevours, and I, like everyone else here, hope that your eyes get better soon.

Best wishes to you.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

And who else was expecting another bitching, whining thread?

But seriously, this is sad...
And has anybody elses eyes just begun to sting?

 

[Robert Ewing]

Terrible news ol' chap. You have my sympathy.

 

[orangeapples]

probably already said, but then just turn The Escapist into a podcast. Admittedly you won't be able to read articles, but you can listen to videos and game reviews (not like you'll be gaming much with a 6 hour weekly limit of looking at screens). I do that with some of the sites I go to. I do miss out on some of the more visual jokes, but the audio is better than nothing. I just have the vids playing in the background while I'm doing something else.

 

[Irridium]

Anyway, when my mother and the optometrist were talking to each other, I overheard the word "astigmatism" being thrown around. So is anyone's wondering what exactly I have, that's the best answer I can give you.

I'm gonna have to join the others on calling bullshit about astigmatism making you blind. I've been diagnosed with mine as long as I can remember(like, since I was 4-5 years old), been looking at computer/TV screens a lot since I was 10. I'm 20 now.

So yeah, either it's something else, or someone's bullshitting you. I'd suggest trying to get to the bottom of this. Or just straight up ask. After all, if you're go blind, I think you deserve to know why you're going blind in the first place.

 

[winter2]

Something doesn't seem right with OP's story. Either he is pulling our legs or his mom his pulling his leg.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

People, hes gone. Farewell sweet prince! *plays amazing grace on a bagpipe*

 

[Grey_Focks]

Huh, that's probably the best reason I've ever heard to leave the escapist. Sorry to see you go, though we never talked, you will still be missed.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Not really true at all. Every single kind of light source has it's own spectrum.

for instance, a common bulb is a mixture of red green and yellow, with very little blue. A halogen has next to no blue light and an over abundance of red. The sun has a lot of blue light and so does a computer screen.

Now staring at the sun is a bad idea because of it's intensity, and by comparison, a screen is meant to be stared at and is nowhere near as intense. But the levels of colour in each light source present their own issues. And staring at something like a PC screen causes us to strain our ciliary muscles. It's not the light itself causing the damage. It's the strain of staying on one focal setting (sort of) for long periods of time.

All that said, I don't believe a word of the OP. Especially not when you look at his second post in the thread.

Just looks like someone attention whoring to me. Probably trying to get some sort of badge.

UV rays (and shorter wavelength) aside, it doesn't actually matter what the primary wavelength reflected or given off of a given source is. The interaction between visible light (~200-750nm) do not change a whole lot with respect to wavelength, and certainly not in the eye. Claiming that a given light source is composed of certain colors is a somewhat bad explanation of emission/absorption lines. For example, the sun produces a nearly continuous spectrum of light, while something like a sodium lamp will produce mostly yellow light at ~500nm with some bits of other lines thrown in. Both are yellow, yet according to you, the sun's light would be more hazardous due its chromatic composition (let's say we're looking at it through UV filtering glass). That's simply not true. Within the visible light region, the exact composition of the light doesn't matter in the slightest, nor does the "quantity" of light. In other words, neither brightness or (visible color) composition matters when it comes to permanent eye damage.

Oh yeah, there's actually only very little difference between common incandescent light bulbs and halogen lamps in terms of emission spectrum. Fluorescent lamps (=mercury vapor) on the other hand actually produce UV light (meaning 'bluer' than blue), but the pigments coating the inside "convert" it to visible light. Pretty cool, huh?