Spotlight on our new Visual Snow Warrior of the Week: Eric Li ????
“My name is Eric and I’m a 21-year-old nursing student. I vividly remember being in high school and staring at graininess and fuzziness on walls, but always attributed that to my myopia (nearsightedness). Since I only really experienced static in dim lighting, I didn’t pay much mind to it.
It was not until I was 19, just about to turn 20 (last year) when I entered my first semester of clinical rotations. I experienced a sudden severe influx of eye floaters and thought I was going blind, knowing this was a major sign of retinal detachment. I ended up taking a leave of absence due to not being able to see at all, especially in well-lit settings. After consulting with three specialists and receiving numerous eye scans, I was told that everything was fine physiologically.
As someone who grew up with traumatic childhood experiences, I constantly wondered what I did to deserve this. I’m a firm mental health advocate and spent so much time learning to achieve mental wellness, only to be dealt with “you’re fine, go back to school.”
I spoke to numerous people to try to seek support and answers and even got an MRI that indicated nothing remarkable. Over my gap year from college, I started developing extreme glares from lights (especially driving), palinopsia, enhanced entoptic phenomena, nyctalopia, and constant derealization. The more I “fought,” the less desire I had to keep going on. I slept every night hoping I wouldn’t wake up the next day.
When I stumbled upon the Visual Snow Initiative I found others who shared the EXACT same narrative as I did. I ended up being formally diagnosed in June 2022 and have slowly found my confidence again. I’ve since returned to nursing school despite all odds and became Reiki Master Certified. I even discovered my Reiki Master developed visual snow around the same time, and another nursing student who suffers from it. I take it as the universe giving me a good sign. 🙂
For other sufferers; you’re not alone and you have more power than you think. When I have flare-ups, I love listening to Brit Marling’s monologue from Another Earth where you learn to “Fall in love with the sound.”
To visit our other Warriors, Please check the “VSI Warrior of the Week” Page with the link below:
