Tunnel vision: what is it and why does it happen?

Tunnel vision is a perceptual phenomenon. It appears when we are faced with a threatening stimulus. Also, when we go through moments of high emotional intensity. Our reality is suddenly reduced and the field of vision is limited, focused on a single thing.

The most striking thing about these situations is that Despite experiencing this perceptual alteration, our will also becomes more impulsive. This is what is literally defined as “being blinded.” It is restricting a good part of the field of attention to focus exclusively on a single part.

To understand it better, let’s imagine, for example, that we leave work at night and suddenly feel like someone is following us. We panic in the face of this threatening presence, we speed up our pace and soon we feel how our vision takes on the shape of a tunnel: we stop perceiving everything around us to only see our car.

The vehicle is that place we want to reach to feel safe and escape. The selective attention that this phenomenon facilitates helps us react more quickly. leaving aside everything else. We are, therefore, facing a useful and necessary survival mechanism.

Let’s analyze it in detail.

Tunnel vision: what it is, characteristics and how to manage it

Tunnel vision is a perceptual phenomenon caused by an intense emotional state. Generally, the triggers are high anxiety and stress. What happens is that the peripheral or extracampin part of vision fades and we can only see a certain stimulus clearly.

Thus, by clouding or removing from our vision what is not important, It allows us to react more quickly to an external threat.. It is an instinctive mechanism that seeks not to waste energy or vision on aspects that are not important.

That type of psychophysiological stress can help us, for example, to act effectively in the event that our three-year-old child escapes from our hand and heads to a road.

Not only will the heart speed up and the brain will decide to send more oxygen to the muscles so that we run faster. In addition, it will activate neurological mechanisms to create tunnel vision and be able to exclusively perceive our child. Because everything else, everything that surrounds it, is unimportant at that moment. The priority is to react successfully.

How does it happen?

When the brain detects danger, the visual focus changes. This psychophysiological response is mediated by a neurotransmitter that acts as a hormone: adrenaline.. The pupils dilate due to its effect, so the eye cannot adapt to all the light it receives or perceive all the peripheral stimuli. This is when what we know as tunnel vision appears.

What do we feel when we experience tunnel vision?

It’s not a pleasant feeling. It is not, first of all, because When the psychophysiological phenomenon of tunnel vision arises, what we are experiencing is fear, anxiety and even panic.. Let’s imagine, for example, that we are driving and suddenly we lose control.

As we have noted, during these high-stress situations, the bloodstream is flooded with adrenaline. This hormone generates numerous physiological changes so that we react to danger.

At that moment, not only is the field of vision reduced to a very limited horizon. What also happens is that The brain acts on impulses, it does not reflect or have time to evaluate a situation objectively.

Therefore, when acting on impulses, we are not always able to react in the most appropriate way at all times. And this is something that is frequently seen in traffic accidents.

How can we control it?

Is it possible to control tunnel vision? The first thing we must understand is that if human beings experience this type of phenomenon it is for a reason.. It has a purpose and a purpose: it guarantees our survival and helps us react to dangers. Let’s imagine that someone wants to rob us, our gaze will focus only on that threatening presence to act quickly.

Sometimes, of course, tunnel vision can make our lives a little difficult. Situations of high anxiety such as an exam, having to speak in public or attending a medical appointment can make us suddenly feel that experience. In those contexts it is not useful and can hinder us.

Therefore, the idea is to learn to manage emotions and understand something very simple. There are circumstances in which the appearance of certain emotions such as fear or panic are legal, acceptable and even useful. They can guarantee our survival.

Tunnel vision may have origins other than anxiety

If we experience this phenomenon in situations in which we do not feel anxiety or stress, nor does it arise as a result of an external threat, it is best to consult an ophthalmologist. There are various eye disorders and diseases that may be behind this alteration in vision:

Glaucoma.Effect of a concussion. Detached retina.Compressed optic nerve.Age-related macular degermation.

To conclude, it is always appropriate to know these types of concepts and realities related not only to our complex emotional universe. Any small alteration or change in the organic and physiological balance cannot be neglected. Let’s keep it in mind.

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