ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Light-near dissociation

Okay kiddo, let me explain what light-near dissociation means in a way that is easier for you to understand. Imagine you have two different toys – one is a ball, and the other is a stuffed animal. You like to play with both of them, but they are very different from each other. This is similar to what happens in our eyes when we look at things far away and things up close.

Our eyes have two types of muscles, just like how you can use your arms to throw a ball or give someone a hug. These eye muscles help us to focus on things that are far away and things that are up close. When we look at something far away, our eye muscles stretch to see it clearly, like when you stretch your arms to throw a ball. But when we look at something up close, our eye muscles squeeze together to focus, like when you give a stuffed animal a tight squeeze.

Now, light-near dissociation is when the muscles in our eyes don't work together like they should. Sometimes, people with light-near dissociation can see things clearly up close, but not so well when looking at things far away. It's like only being able to play with the ball, but not the stuffed animal.

So, when someone has light-near dissociation, their eyes struggle to adjust properly when looking at objects that are far away versus up close. This can cause vision problems and may require surgery or other treatments to correct.