Eye health resource
Can Stress Cause Dry Eyes?
Stress is not usually considered a single direct cause of dry eye, but stress, poor sleep, screen habits, and related behaviors can overlap with or worsen dry-eye symptoms.
Reviewed for accuracy by Justin Bazan, OD on .
Stress is not usually treated as a single direct cause of dry eye, but stress and dry-eye symptoms can overlap. Periods of stress may also change sleep, screen use, blinking, hydration, medication use, or other habits that can make an already-irritated ocular surface feel worse.
Research has found associations among dry-eye symptoms, stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep quality. An association does not mean that every case of dry eye is caused by stress or that stress reduction alone will treat dry-eye disease.
What Is Dry Eye?
Dry eye happens when the eyes do not make enough tears, the tears evaporate too quickly, or the tear film does not function well enough to keep the ocular surface comfortable and stable.
Symptoms can include:
- burning, stinging, or a gritty sensation;
- redness or irritation;
- watery eyes from reflex tearing;
- fluctuating or blurry vision;
- light sensitivity;
- eye fatigue; and
- difficulty wearing contact lenses comfortably.
Similar symptoms can also come from allergies, eyelid inflammation, contact-lens problems, infection, medication effects, or other eye conditions, which is why persistent symptoms deserve an eye examination rather than being blamed on stress automatically.
How Stress Can Be Part of the Picture
Stress can affect daily routines in ways that matter to the eyes. You may sleep less, spend longer periods working on a screen, blink less often while concentrating, spend more time in heated or air-conditioned environments, or change medications or self-care habits.
Those factors can aggravate dry-eye symptoms even if stress itself is not the underlying ocular-surface diagnosis.
Sleep, Screens, and Blinking
Long periods of screen use can reduce blink frequency and blink completeness. When blinking decreases, the tear film has more time to evaporate between blinks.
Regular visual breaks, conscious blinking, comfortable screen positioning, and avoiding moving air directly toward the face can help reduce environmental contributors. Good sleep is also important for general health and may affect how intensely discomfort is perceived.
Other Common Dry-Eye Contributors
Dry-eye symptoms may be influenced by:
- age and hormonal changes;
- meibomian gland dysfunction or blepharitis;
- contact lens wear;
- allergies;
- medications, including some antihistamines and antidepressants;
- dry, windy, smoky, heated, or air-conditioned environments;
- autoimmune, thyroid, or other medical conditions; and
- prolonged screen use.
What Can Help?
Treatment depends on what is contributing to the problem. For mild symptoms, appropriate over-the-counter artificial tears, a humidifier, regular screen breaks, avoiding direct airflow, and attention to contact-lens habits may help.
At Park Slope Eye, current dry-eye treatment may include over-the-counter artificial tears, lid-hygiene cleansers, prescription eye drops, and punctal plugs when appropriate. We do not currently provide in-office procedural dry-eye treatments.
When to Have Your Eyes Checked
If dryness keeps returning, affects your vision or contact-lens comfort, or does not respond to simple changes, an eye exam can help determine whether the problem is dry-eye disease, allergy, eyelid disease, medication-related dryness, or something else.
Significant pain, marked redness, light sensitivity, discharge, injury, or a sudden vision change should not be assumed to be dry eye or stress.
If dry-eye symptoms are interfering with daily life, book an appointment with Park Slope Eye.
Originally published . Substantially updated .