Hello, my name is Nathan, and I’m 21 years old from Sydney, Australia. My journey with Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS) began when I was six. I first noticed a strange green glow in my vision and a sudden difficulty seeing in the dark. I went to bed that night hoping my vision would return to normal, but I woke up to a permanent, unshakeable visual static.
Scared, I visited an Optometrist. The eye exam came back completely normal – my vision was fine, and my eyes were healthy. I struggled to articulate what I was experiencing without sounding crazy, and as a child, I was not taken seriously. The unspoken conclusion was that I was making it all up, which left me feeling anxious and alone.
For a long time, my biggest fear was that I would eventually go blind. I felt isolated because my condition was invisible, and no one could tell me why I had it. Over time, I’ve learned to live with it, and my visual snow hasn’t been too debilitating. There are moments when I don’t notice it at all, much like how your brain learns to ignore your nose, which is always there. But other days, I just wish I could have a break from the visual noise. The irritating glare from reflections, the sudden spikes of tinnitus, the struggle to see stars in the night sky, and the feeling of being disconnected from reality. A decade after it all began, I stumbled upon a social media post that described my exact symptoms. It described VSS as seeing the world through a static television screen or an old camera. I finally had a name for what I was seeing.
There are times when I’m out in the sun, and the light hits my eye in a way that makes my visual snow disappear for just a moment. I hold onto the hope that one day, that feeling won’t be temporary.
Today, I’m a fourth-year student in Vision Science and Clinical Optometry at UNSW, and I am dedicated to learning everything I can about this condition. I hope to be the person who can help that scared 6 year old – the one who felt so alone and crazy trying to explain what they were seeing.
My Instagram page, @visualsnowaustralia, is a personal passion project aimed at raising awareness. Even if just one person stumbles across a post and feels understood, like I did, it will be worth it. The Visual Snow Initiative helped me see that change is possible, and I am grateful for that hope.
If I could give one piece of advice to anyone with VSS, it would be this: keep talking about your experience, no matter how crazy it may sound, and know that you are not alone.
