Irritating Visual Static

For a while now, I've been irritated by what I could only really describe as static/"white noise" existing in my eyesight. I'm posting this here to discover if it is

A) Common to everyone.
and
B) If not common to everyone, how to get rid of it.

It only takes a very short experiment to see if we are experiencing the same thing. Close your eyes, and if there is an uncountable number of small specks that are impossible to focus on, giving the impression of movement akin to an analog TV without the signal, then you know what I'm talking about. It's not just under such situations where they are present, however. Personally, I am aware of them when looking at anything. My monitor, the walls of my room (pale green), my curtain (maroon), the clear blue sky, and even white objects. There's this sort of "static overlay" there, and it's annoying me quite a lot.

If it's something everyone has and is just the brain compiling the data picked up by the retina, I guess I'll just have to deal with it. But if it's not, I want to figure out how to fix it. (It makes it harder to pick up small details at a distance.)

This is, as far as I can tell, separate to various other visual phenomena, such as the "eye floaties" (or whatever the correct term for them is.) as well as the odd, firefly-like things I see when I go outside and look at the sky. Perhaps it is due to looking at electronic monitors too much? I know that sometimes when I go to bed, I have a this flickering impression, like a monitor's. Similar to this, but about two-three times as fast, and not as "obvious". (It's like black-gray rather than black-white)
SEIZURE WARNING.

a reply to: Eilasvaleleyn

I see it all of the time. But I can focus on it or not. What I see is energy. Does yours appear to be like twinkling almost--like light but not light and all colors but no colors? It's strange to describe. It's radiant. And it moves in streams, I suppose one might describe them as.

When I was little, I saw them more in colors--like reds, greens and blues.

As I grew older, I could see them flowing off of everything--they make up everything because energy is everything. I can see it if I think about it, but I'm very used to it so I can usually tune it out. Except in the dark. Then I see it all of the time. But it isn't irritating by any means. It's merely there. Like air. I thought that everyone saw it. I get eye exams every year. I have very healthy eyes. But I do need strong glasses/contacts lol From what I've learned from people who I've talked to this about, not everybody sees this kind of thing--but some people do. I think that everyone can see it if they want to. Most people probably just don't notice, is all.

It's different than eye floaties--those follow the liquid in your eye and stuff.

Have you seen this all your life?

To get rid of it, look beyond it and focus on the solid matter in the room and let it fade out of your perception. It's much easier to do this in the daytime.

Looking up at the sky makes people see little white sparks sometimes--I think that's normal and caused by light refraction or something like that. But yeah, try to practice focusing in and out of it and see if you can do it. I think once you try you'll be surprised at how natural it comes. But sometimes, I see it more than others. I don't know what that means, entirely. And the focus in and focus out method isn't always foolproof for some reason. But most of the time, I don't even notice it if I don't want to. You need to stop thinking about it if you want to ignore it ^_^

I'm not a doctor, but maybe you should get an MRI. This does not sound normal. At least see an eye doctor.

a reply to: rukia

It's gray/black/white, the best way I can describe is that it's "there, but not there" like an overlay layer in Photoshop (if you know what I'm talking about.)
There's no "flow" or anything as far as I can tell, it's just everywhere, all the time. I guess you could describe it as twinkling? Yes, twinkling probably fits fairly well as well. It's like a static animation overlay, though I'm not sure if it's like a loop or just ever shifting, since it's impossible to focus on it.

Are you sure you don't have some type of synaesthesia?

It's been there as long as I can remember, but I've only really been thinking about it recently, and started getting irritated by it recently. (It can make it harder to perceive small things.)

a reply to: skunkape23

It's existed for as long as I can remember. I am fairly certain what I am describing is common to everyone, some are just more aware of it than others. Close your eyes, see if you can see the "twinkling/static" too.

If you're talking about the flickering... Maybe you're right. Though it's only ever in pitch black/very dark light conditions when I go to bed.
Might have something to do with blood flow. Hmm...

a reply to: skunkape23

Yes. If you don't go to the eye doctor, definitely go. Especially if this is a new occurrence for you. That kind of thing could be a brain tumor. Since I go yearly, I know that it's nothing wrong with my eyes. I've even asked the eye doctor about this, and he has told me that my eyes are perfectly healthy and there is nothing wrong with my vision, so I have nothing to worry about. Until I asked the doctor, I was scared that there might be something wrong with me--and it took me till like two years ago to ask lol I've had glasses since I was seven--and I'm 24 now

I've been reading "Hallucinations" by Oliver Sachs. It's very very enlightening, I suggest you start there. Most common hallucinations are things of this nature, blobs, specks, shapes etc..

Hope this helps, I know exactly what your describing, I saw it more often as a child when i woke up at night. To me it almost looked like the static of Night Vision Goggles.

Hope you get some answers

a reply to: Eilasvaleleyn

Everyone has this to varying degrees. They're dead cells that float on the retina iirc. I've had them for years and once read that some of them are actually cells from the womb. They can be really distracting when tired!

Floaters

Sorry. Read the OP too fast instead of ALL the posts. Silly me

a reply to: Kandinsky

What I am speaking about is markedly different from floaters, I mentioned them in the OP specifically stating that they are not what I was talking about. >_>

*Edit*

No matter. I don't know how to do that [s][/s] on ATS, so I'll just do this instead.

a reply to: rukia

I've never had or needed glasses. The static thing appears to be normal (and sadly impossible to totally remove), but the flickering might be something I'll have to look into. I've assumed it's a result of looking at a monitor for too long and my eyes subconsciously adjusting to its refresh rate, but that may not be the case.

Hope this helps, I know exactly what your describing, I saw it more often as a child when i woke up at night. To me it almost looked like the static of Night Vision Goggles.

That's another good way of describing it. For me, it's just there, all the time. Even in bright daylight it can get irritating. When you close your eyes or when it's dark it's most noticeable though, definitely.

I thought for a moment that I might have something similar, but then you mentioned that it's more noticeable when your eyes are closed or when it's dark... I see "static" all the time - when it's light - not that flickering though.

a reply to: Eilasvaleleyn

Yes. That sounds very much like what I see.

Actually, I do have synesthesia, I think. But I didn't think that this could be a part of it as well. Could it be synesthesia??? I've never even considered that.

I was told that it sounded like I was seeing energy. I ended up looking into aether and studying what Tesla and Einstein thought and have looked at what quantum physicists have said that the particles move like--and it's very similar. I think it's the same thing. Perhaps I see it due to synesthesia? That's the best theory I've heard so far actually. Thank you very much for suggesting that. That was very intuitive of you I think

I have gone through some phases where it gets kinda irritating at times--but those always seem to pass. I am highly sensitive in general, so I have supposed that it must have something to do with those heightened perceptions. And it's because of those that I get panic attacks. So I can understand how it gets overwhelming and like you just want it to stop entirely for a second or something

Yeah, focusing on it is difficult. But when you do it looks super cool in the dark. If you try to gather it all together, it feels kinda spooky. lol

You don't see it much in normal light conditions? I see it better in the dark, but it's the same no matter how the light is.

a reply to: GreenGunther

I love that book!!! RIP Dr. Sacks. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat is also superb.

what I see is not a hallucination, it is there, and it is affected by matter. If I move my finger, it flows with it and stuff. I also see it with my eyes closed, oddly enough. That's what made me think it was weird for the longest time. But, since energy makes up everything, that actually kind of makes sense.

Hallucinations cannot be shared. And I know of many other people who can see this as well. All of whom are "sensitives" if you want to call it that. Anyone can see it though. It's just do you notice it or not. Like you said, as a child you saw it. You still can see it, you just don't think about it. Think about it and remember it and I bet you'll see it again.

I'm going to bet the farm that it is energy.
And you can hold me to that if I ever own a farm.


lol my humor is lame xD

a reply to: kaelci

It may be the same thing, it may not be. It's noticeable all the time, but I believe it is most obvious in the dark. (Due to the huge amount of "flickering" white specks)

This is the issue when describing such subjective visual experiences, however. It's almost like trying to describe a color without any reference points. It's almost impossible.

a reply to: Eilasvaleleyn


^ THE LAST TWO SENTENCES.



Yup. I'm convinced you're seeing what I'm seeing.

a reply to: rukia

I cna see a lot more than just static by now.

a reply to: rukia

Maybe. If you're seeing colored "energy flows" and not just the semi-translucent static that I do, I'd consider it a fair contender.
Eh, synaesthesia is usually my go-to consideration when discussing consistent and abnormal sensory phenomena that do not seem to result from brain damage or something similar. It's a generalised third-place possibility.

It's not all that bad, I just find it exceptionally irritating when I wish to focus on fine details. It gets in the way.

Mm, sort of. There are many... Stranger things, I see in the dark. A neutral example would be that where I assume my blind spots likely are look like dying stars / tears in the fabric of reality leading to a pitch black void. It shows up in slightly darker than twilight conditions. Extremely hard to describe, but imagine something like this lens flare, but constantly being distorted in all directions (and pure black).

Creepier things would be getting the illusion of a giant centipede crawling over my ceiling.

Sometimes I get this feeling of going down a tunnel when I'm in bed and have my eyes closed. There's this darkness that spreads out from the center of my vision, and it just gets darker and darker as I try to follow it. (If I lose focus it just goes back to normal.) One time I was doing that and suddenly got the feeling there was movement above me to the right (like a person standing there reaching out a hand or something.) That put me into a bit of a panic, though once I turned on the light it was fine.

It's amazing what the brain's imagination conjures up. I just wish it was nicer and less freaky, sometimes...

a reply to: Eilasvaleleyn

I'd like to describe my "static" to be like... Okay, the static on older televisions when there is no channel detected, or the aerial is being wonky. It's not as harsh as that. But it's a fine opacity of that over my normal vision. If my eyesight were a graphics program, it'd be about 10% opacity I would estimate.

And now that I think about it, (Rather, it is night time right now, I just put my son to bed, walked down the dark hallway back into the loungeroom), I do notice the static in the dark as well.

When you spoke of flickering, I looked at the linked youtube, and I have nothing like that... But after reading the other comments... I guess they do "twinkle" in a manner of speaking. But it's not entirely noticeable unless I try to focus on the static.

a reply to: rukia

I think what I'm seeing is something common to everyone. What you're describing seems to be a bit... More, than that. What I see is like an overlay placed over the image my eyes produce, it is everywhere, above all things. It isn't affected by them. There's no flow to it. It's like a flat, semi-translucent animation.

Oh, have you ever looked up at a bright blue sky and then quickly moved your eyes? It actually makes faint shadows at the edge of your vision inside your eyeballs, it's pretty funny. (From the fluid moving, distorting the light, I would assume.)