Why I’m Tired — and Why That’s Okay

Can someone with total blindness (except for a sliver of light perception in one eye) and complete optic nerve failure in the other… someone living with Generalised Anxiety Disorder… someone possibly dealing with ADHD too… really accept that it’s normal to feel tired a lot?

The answer is: Absolutely.
In fact, not only is it normal — it’s valid. Completely. And here’s why I think it’s important to talk about that.

I live with constant mental, emotional, and sensory fatigue. Not the kind you can just sleep off or fix with coffee. The kind that builds up invisibly, even on “quiet” days. The kind that takes more out of you than most people realise — especially if they’ve never walked through life without sight, or while managing anxiety and neurodivergence.

Let me break it down a bit.

🧠 Blindness Brings a Constant Cognitive Load

When you’re blind — especially totally or nearly totally — your brain is doing a lot of heavy lifting all the time.

Sighted people can passively take in their environment through visual cues. For me, that information has to come from sound, touch, memory, spatial awareness, and other senses. It’s like running extra programs on your brain’s operating system every waking moment.

Even simple things — like boiling the kettle, navigating a room, or opening a parcel — can require planning, strategy, and sustained focus. There are no visual shortcuts. It’s a form of “always-on” thinking that takes a toll.

⚡ Anxiety Isn’t Just Emotional — It’s Physical

Generalised Anxiety Disorder doesn’t just make you “worry a lot.” It wears down your nervous system.

I often experience muscle tension, sleep issues, racing thoughts, and a constant feeling of hyper-awareness. Even when things seem calm on the outside, my body can be running a background script of “what ifs.”

That quiet, persistent vigilance burns energy fast. It’s like leaving a car engine idling all day.

🌪️ Possible ADHD Adds a Whole Other Layer

While I haven’t been formally diagnosed with ADHD, I suspect it’s part of my mix — and many of the signs line up.

ADHD can make it hard to filter out distractions, focus for long periods, or manage transitions smoothly. It can also come with emotional intensity and a kind of mental restlessness that’s hard to explain unless you’ve lived it.

While blindness isn’t technically considered a form of neurodivergence, the way it shapes how I think, process, and navigate the world can feel neurodivergent — especially when layered with anxiety or traits of ADHD. It’s a different way of experiencing reality, and that difference is real, valid, and often misunderstood.

When ADHD overlaps with anxiety and blindness? Let’s just say some days feel like a mental marathon before lunchtime.

👁️ Light Perception Doesn’t Lessen the Load

I still have a tiny bit of light perception in one eye — but it doesn’t make daily life any easier. In fact, it can sometimes increase fatigue due to unreliable input or the strain of trying to interpret vague visual information.

Partial sight can be a mixed bag: helpful in certain contexts, but also exhausting when it creates more questions than clarity.

❤️‍🩹 Tired Isn’t Lazy — It’s Honest

So yes — I feel tired a lot. And I’ve spent years wondering if that meant I was weak, lazy, or just not “doing life right.”

Now I understand: I’m tired because I work hard. I adapt constantly. I interpret a world that isn’t built for me — every single day.

Fatigue isn’t a flaw. It’s a signal that my body and mind are showing up for me, doing their best in a demanding landscape.

Over time, experience brings confidence — and confidence opens the door to deeper self-awareness. When you’ve spent years adapting and observing your own patterns, you start to trust your instincts more, even when the world questions them.

I share all this not to complain, but to offer context. When I review accessible tech, cannabis tools, or talk about managing daily life, I’m doing it from this lived place — where clarity, simplicity, and energy-saving tools aren’t luxuries. They’re lifelines.

So if you’re walking a similar road — blind, anxious, scattered, or just plain tired — I get you. Your effort counts, even when no one else sees it.