Sensitivity to light out of control

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I live in a dorm room with two roommates. Being normal people as they are, they like keeping the room bright. Very bright. My eyes hurt, I can barely see anything on my laptop's screen and this whole light situation is driving me crazy. When I'm in light spaces, I literally lose the will do to anything, I just want to cover my eyes and sit like that. I can't get anything done, I can't study, I can't play video games, it sounds so ridiculous when I say that a room full of light is crippling me and causing a lot of stress. I like to keep my space dimly lit, it gives me much comfort, like a shield that protects me from the outside and all the activity that's going outside. I don't how to help myself or what to do, I'd appreciate any advice on how to deal with this because it's really really eating up my nerves and productivity.

Sunglasses. Seems dumb to use them indoors? Well you do what you gotta do, who cares what others think.

Make sure though that they are non polarized. You won't be able to look at screens and monitors properly with polarized lenses.

Agreed. I used to wear lightly tinted lenses (yellow or orange) all the time and they really helped. I started wearing them just to look cool, but I wore them all the time because they truly helped!

Yep - shades work for me too. Or ask your college if you can move rooms and explain your situation? If you still want to live with your room mates, speak to them about your light sensitivity.

Yeah but I worry that I'll look ridiculous. Plus, I have some cheap glasses for which I'm afraid they harm my eyesight, can't afford anything decent. I don't want to ask for a transfer because then I would need to get used to another two people and there's nowhere to escape from the sun in this building, I'm actually on the side that is considered to be the least exposed. I can't demand anything from my roommates, you know how much extroverted people like light.

You need to stop worrying about what other people think. Only the real jerks will bother you once they realize you need it for medical reasons.

I think if you got sunglasses that look like normal glasses it won't be so conspicuous. People will think you're just wearing transition lenses.

I have an online gaming friend who has a seeing eye dog because light is so blinding to her.

I find wearing a hat really helps cut a lot of the problem for me, a ball cap or something else with a brim on it makes everything way more comfortable and is more socially acceptable than sunglasses inside, but if sunglasses helps just say "the lights give me a headache".

"I live in a dorm room with two roommates. " <- Problem.

Of course, but unless he is working for himself, this will morph into I work at a job with a boss who doesn't care problem. He needs a working plan that will work outside of a school situation.


Is there anyway you can get a chinese screen to block out most of the light? They don't look bad, and can cut out some of the extra brightness. Estate sales, Salvation Army etc has them. Heck even a heavy blanket strung across your part of the room might help.

Fior wears glasses or a hat.

Is there anyway you can get a medical accommodation for a single room?

It's really hard for me, when I walk outside I don't wear my sunglasses because I think I look ridiculous and I'm too embarrassed to wear them so I spend my days squinting. I don't have the money to buy any decent lenses or inconspicuous sunglasses. My general tactic is clear the exams and get the hell home into my room.


Yeah, I think I'll get some kind of a cap although that doesn't solve the problem of very bad visibility on my laptop screen because of the reflection.


I agree, but I have no choice.


We have some kind of blinds, but roommates like it bright so they don't lower them.


There's no my part of the room. The whole room is narrow and long and only has two huge windows.


There are no single rooms in this dorm. There are some in a new one, which is too expensive for me.

I know just how you feel . I have always used hats and dark glasses just to cope with light .
Most people do not get it at all , they love light and don't understand in the slightest anyone that can't deal with it. It just seems a natural thing to love the bright .
I think it was a big contributing fact to me failing school . In the UK in the 70s and 80s when I was at school the rules were no hats or sun glasses ( the only reason they saw for having them was to look cool , so the rule was NO!! ) As you can imagine this was a big problem for someone who was very light sensitive. So was constantly in a state of being blinded with the light walls and large open windows. I don't know how they expected me to learn when I couldn't see what I was doing .

Don't worry what people think of you . Your ability to function is much more important than what small minded people who could never understand what it is people like us go through think. I spend most of my time in a room these days that has a black ceiling and the curtains permanently drawn . Anyone that comes to my house instantly comment on the dark and want me to open the curtains and let the light in . I explain things to them but they just think it weird and could never understand .

With your laptop have you looked at ant-glare filters . I don't know if you can still get them but you used to be able to get a filter that fits over a screen and cuts down the glare . I used to see them a lot in brightly lit offices . You might be able to pick up one on ebay for next to nothing .

Exactly, this is the biggest problem, even my own mother tells me I'm overreacting and that I should go out more. But even when I get out it doesn't get any better. I mean, today, my roommates were in the room the whole day and the room was very bright the whole day and now it is finally evening and my eyes burn and my eyes feel tired from squinting. Needless to say, I didn't even study, I spent the afternoon squinting at the screen and covering my eyes, I did absolutely nothing productive and I felt anxious the whole day.

It's hard to explain to people why light bothers you. I try explaining that light makes me very very nervous and it drains my will to do anything but nobody listens. I've managed to live through winter, thankfully it wasn't very sunny but now it's really starting to bother me and I can't do anything to help myself. I spend my summers in my room with a dark red blanket over my window since the blinds and the curtains let too much light in. I'll look into the anti glare filters but my biggest hope is that I'll be done with college for this year in 3 weeks, if I manage to study in these bright conditions that is. I wish rainy weather would come, I feel so good when it's cloudy.

I feel exactly the same way.....except lights don't bother me, but sounds do instead, just as bad as you dislike lights. And it ain't just rare sounds that upset me, it's also normal household noises, like kettles boiling, the cat miawing, a TV murmuring, people chattering outside my room, and people moving about in the room above me. All those noises affect me when I'm in my room and can hear them, not so much when I am in the same room as the noises. I used to listen to music with my headphones on, but I can't at the moment because my laptop caught a virus the other day and it somehow affected my music storer on my laptop, so I am waiting for Wednesday, when my friend is coming to help me get rid of the virus and get my music running normally again. I have got a pair of earplugs which I do sometimes use, but even then I can faintly hear the noises, which annoys me even more.

I have the opposite problem as you with lights though. I have to have a well-lit room. I cannot cope in a dim-lit room. I feel my pupils stretching really big, and it hurts my eyes, more than what a bright light would.

Sound bothers me too, but not to such extent, I always have means of plugging my ears with something. Sounds in general unnerve me, you can imagine how weird is it to live in a dorm when you're not really social, don't like light and noise. People here have bad habits of turning up techno music with a really hard bass on. They also run across hallways and the thumping sound always makes me jump. Same goes for the whole repertoire of noises drunk and semi drunk people produce. When I'm alone at home I always mute the TV and the radio and every outside noise makes me uneasy but I put on headphones and manage.

Get some earplugs and I hope you'll solve your laptop problem as soon as possible, god knows I couldn't manage without mine.

It just seems to be alien to people . My idea of hell is most peoples ideal , an outdoor party in mid summer with the sun blazing . I would liken it to being in an interrogation room ( someone shinning a light directly in your eyes and shouting in your face ) but how can you tell people that what they see as fun to your is a living nightmare .

I am awaiting some noise cancelling ear plugs I have ordered . I hear everything and hopefully these will help me sleep . It is the hardest thing in the world trying to sleep when you can't shut out noise , the wind outside, distant birds , floorboards creaking , the refrigerator turning on and off and a thousand other thing other people don't take notice (as they can just block it out) all add up to a crescendo that can drive you out of your mind. I have been using foam ear plugs but then I hear the sound of the blankets rustling louder for some reason ( akin to someone shovelling sand ) and still hear most of the other noise .

I too hope you get your laptop sorted out . I don't know what I would do without my pc , even growing up before the home pc like I did