Category: Safe Haven
Hi All, I don't know why, but do any of you press your eyes? Or rub them? You know, that lbindie trick? I do it, though not a lot, only when I'm really bored or relaxed or just don't have anything to do with my hands! Lol. But yeah, IO know lots of blindies do it, and the worst part is I don't know why I do it, I don't even realize I do it. But if anyone knows why... lol ... and a way to stop, if there is one! I try ... hehehe. Um ... someone told me once that maybe when we were babies it used to stimulate our eyes into letting light in, or we thought it might? I don't know. Hehee. But a funny story about this is that when I was at a braille challenge, my mom looked in through the window at an activity's end, and all these little blindies were leaned forward, elbows on the table, pokin' their eyes out. Hehehe! And my mobility teacher used to tell me that my eyes would come out my ears if I pressed them; actually he said that to all of us blindies. Hehehe. Caitlin
hey kate, I am to an eye presser, not as much now though. I have also heard that it may have stimulated our eyes when we were babies. I also do it when I'm bored. I know that for me trying to stop is very difficult. I try to distract myself from doing it, but it can be very difficult.
Used to when I was a child but I got over that habit when I discovered there were many other things that were far more enjoyable
I used to be a terrible eye presser. Never knew anyone else did it.
i never have pressed my eyes, though I know plenty of ppl at my old college who did.
Nope not me. Never done it.
Huh, how odd! So I guess some do and some don't. Anymore of you? Caitlin
I wouldn't call what I do pressing. It's ore like jabbing my thumb in there really hard. It doesn't bother me though, not a bit. Lately, I've been trying to keep something in my hands to keep me from doing it. Remote controls and cell phones, even when I have no need of them, are my best friends.
And your ring, Tyr, right, until you sent it flying that one time? Remember yo uwere telling me about that? Hehehee! Yeah one other thing I do when I press is I lean my eye into someone's shoulder, like if I'm leaning on them, talking, like my mom or dad. I'll just put my eye right in their shoudler and push. Lol! It's funny. My dad then started hoking around and pushing his chin in my eye and saying, "Here, let me help you out with that!", lol. It doesn't hurt me, it doesn't feel good or anything, it's jsut there, hehehee! Caitlin
I'm an eye presser.
Troy
Hehehehehe. So there are more ... and are there more? Keep coming ... you eye pressers you ... eheheh jk... Caitlin
ya i used 2 press my eyes real bad 2... when i was tired or thinking or bored or angry or nervous or something and my brl teacher would get on 2 me now i dun do it as bad i dun think haha...
OMG! that seams like it would hurt. wouldnt it make your eyes tear?
I used to do that all the time when i was little, but my parents got me out of the habbit. They said if i stopped, they'd by me this toy i wanted really badly, and that did it. pretty much, anyway. I still catch myself once in a great while.
Hi everyone... I can't speak from personal experience (actually, maybe I can :-). I'm sighted and the funny thing is that I do it too. For some reason I have the idea that when my eyes are tired, pressing them will relax them. I don't think it actually works but it's an instinct, I suppose) but I've heard that a lot of blind children will do this. Pressing on one's eyes stimulates the visual cortex (the part of the brain that is usually responsible for processing visual information), and thus delivers some sort of bogus visual information. The question remains, though, why blind children (and adults, I suppose, if the kids never stop pressing) would find it pleasurable to have their visual cortext stimulated. I have no idea, really. My question to those of you who are blind and do press there eyes is this, since we're talking about it anyway :-): What sort of sensation do you guys get from pressing your eyes? As a sightie, it's sort of a burst of light, as well as the nice feeling from the pressure. I wonder what it's like for you guys.
I'm sighted so I don't know if this post really applies to me? Anyway, I find pressing my eyes hurts so no I don't ever do it. However, if i do press on them I experiance the little bursts of light that Susanne mentioned. It's sort of like firworks or flashes of different colored lights.
Also, would rocking go along with eye pushing? I don't know why but it seems like a lot of blind people also rock when sitting in a chair or standing still?
HI All! Yeah I've heard that we do them to stimulate our eyes to get light or something, but this doesn't make sense, because I know totally blind people who do it. I think it might be more along the lines of the tired eyes thing, where our eeys are constantly tired from doing absolutely nothing! Lol! i don't know. And Heather, I would think it would hurt, but for some reason, i guess when you get used to it, it liek doesn't! Lol. Very stwange...
Caitlin
ya i know ppl who rock but i dun... lol
I know this one guy who is always standing there flailing around. Like, he'll get out of his chair and stand there doing something with his arms. I can't see what he's doing obviously but it's creepy. I always rock because I always sit in rocking chairs, but I don't rock when sitting in a normal chair.
hmmmmm, explain this eye pushing thingy to me. I'm ot sure what you consider eye pushing. I have major headaches from the blood clot i had on my brain. When i get theese it feels good to close my eyes and push gently on my eye lids! Gently i said! lol smile, angel
Well, as the person who started this topic, I am one of the many blind people who press. And I am totally blind. I don't think I really get any sensation out of it. Maybe I did when I was younger, and I just kept it up. But I don't now.
I poke my eyes also. I used to do it more when I was younger, and I guess it was because of that little lights effect since I was able to see some when I was little. My aunt and uncle tried making me sit and repeat that "I will not poke my eye." but that didn't work. Now, even though I don't do it as much, my mom still nags me about it and tells me how it looks. I only press the right one, so it's a little more in than the left one and has a bruise, so I guess I must press hard without realizing it. I don't think I do it intentionally, as I can't see the lights now, but I guess it's usually when I have nothing to do.
Leilani
Hi: I've pressed my eyes ever since I was little and used to do it much more than I do now. Now I do it when I'm tired or stressed. Not sure what I got out of it as I am totally blind and I guess it was just something that felt pleasurable or something at the time, lol.
Lol! Yeah. People always tell me about people they know whose eyes sink in after so much pressing and that scares me! I wanna stop but I liek can't! Lol sobs!
Caitlin
I also pressed my eyes when I was little. I'd do it so hard and so long I almost constantly had like a black eye or something. I still see a bit, and I can't really say I get any type of sensation; or really did, but my Mom got me mostly out of it by getting on me majorly for it. Probably not the best way, but the only thing she could think of. Bribing me didn't work. LOL. I don't really do it anymore unless I'm reading or something and have nothing to do with one of my hands, but I'm very conscious of it, and try to avoid it because it does bruise around the eye too, or at least it does for me. I may have done a little bit of pinching too to make the bad bruising...I do know that after a bit for me now it brings on a major head ache, and that is one heck of a detourment. As far as the rocking. No!!! I've never rocked, though I know of many who do, and for a long time when I was little my Mom was afraid I'd start, but if I ever did she must have told me how it looked, because I don't remember ever doing it.
I used to, because of mad pressure behind my eye.
Bugga? rocking, I've noticed that, a lot of blind people i know do it, I don't but some do, just a mannerism I guess.
Never intentionally pressed my eyes. It fucking hurts.
I only do it when I have pressure pains from glocoma. for some reason, I see those flashy purpleish bright light spots all of the time. I think they said it was due to a messed up laser surgery I had when I was little.
I've touched and prodded lightly on the sides of my eyes just to see how they feel, and since I can see a little, it makes my vision blurry and makes everything slanted. I'm always afraid I'll hurt my eyes if I press too hard, so it's rare, it's not one of those blindie habits for me.
Caitlin, so you're the one who won at the Braille Challenge ... LOL! I remember now! I could have said hi to you or past right by you ... or something. LOL.
I remember doing it when I was really young, but I haven't since.
My parents told me from the time I was little not to press my eyes and to sit up straight, so that's what I do. I don't know why blind people press their eyes, but I do know that I find it extremely unattractive.
I pressed for a short while when I was little, but my parrents stopped it just about as quickly as I started it.
I did it a lot when I was little. I still do it now but only when I'm bored.
I don't eye poke, but my fiance's really bad at it. Herbie does it all the time. It's embarrassing for me, but he can't stop. I guess I did it for a short while when I was really little, but my mom stopped it. I don't rock, bounce, walk or talk with my head down,or do anything like that. I don't see why it's so hard for some blind people to turn their heads when talking to people either. Herbie's eyes are actually sunken in from eye poking for 23 years. I can actually hear it sometimes when he does it. His eyes actually make a squishing sound. Or, if he's got his fingers in his eyes and he's talking, it sounds like his hand is up at his face, so that's the other way I can tell. The things I've found have helped with him are getting sunglasses for him to wear, so that each time he puts his hand up there, he has to reach under them. It provides a tactile reminder not to do it. The other thing that helps some is, I named his eyes and told him to think of them as people. Each time he eye pokes, he's hurting them. I do wish that he could stop entirely though. It makes me sad for him, because it's not normal and none of those things are going to help his appearance in the sighted world.
Thanks,
Dawnielle
I knew kids at the school for the blind I attended for a few years who did this. It was gross to watch them and gross to see the sunken eyes that resulted from it.
I did when I was young, up until I was six or seven. My parents did a lot of yelling and humiliating, and I quit.
But, my eyes are inset from it. Wonder if they would have fallen out if I had kept it up. <lol>
Bob
I used to poke my right eye when I was in elementary school. My vision teacher kept telling me about a student who had a prosthetic eye, and how I might end up with one if I didn't stop the poking. Eventually, my eye was sunken and it looked really bad. As described in the Removal Of The Eye message board under a different category, I had the eye removed in the summer of 2005. To this day, I wonder if my eye-poking had something to do with that diagnosis. I can't even remember the last time I touched the eye. For the point, habit broken.