@hunkulese: That is definitely on the list. I just registered with a family doctor much, much closer to me and I'm going to get a physical and bloodwork done to make sure I'm otherwise healthy, talk to him about my mental health issues, and then go from there. It's all in the plan.
@gaff: I know you're not trying to be a dick and I don't want to inundate you with a life story you don't care about, but to explain: my vision deteriorated rather recently (started about 5 years ago from what I consciously noticed, may have been longer before I picked up on it) and my anxiety only started to come on in about that same time frame. Several people who I love went through some very, very awful things and because of how I was involved in it, it caused a severe amount of stress that eventually morphed into anxiety. My lack of glasses is the same reason I've yet to talk to a professional about it: my anxiety (and frequent depression) stopped me from committing to bettering myself for most of that time. I would write, work out, talk with friends and socialise in spurts, but it hasn't been until recently, and with the support of my very wonderful and giving girlfriend, that I've started to pull out of it and actively try and get better over a long period of time. I'm not looking for cheats or trying to avoid the issue; I've simply never had to deal with this specific set of circumstances and I was looking for different points of view on it. I appreciate your input though.
@sfbaybunny: Thank you for the advice! As I mentioned above, talking to a professional is on my short list of things to get done and I'm working on it. I think the fit may be an issue and there's a place near where I live that does fittings for free (as far as I can tell), so I am going to pop by there and have them adjusted. I see contacts being suggested again and again in this thread so I may look into that as well, even though I am still hesitant for reasons I've explained previously.
As a general response to everyone who has mentioned this piece of advice: I understand that nobody really cares about how I look. It's something I've understood for a long time. But it's a constant battle to tell my brain that that is the case. I have it playing on repeat in my head, I've talked to friends about it, I've had it drilled into my head from countless online resources and posters on plenty of message boards when anxiety comes up in conversation. The fact is that I simply cannot turn that part of my brain off and it's a fight to get it to settle down enough to conduct myself like a normal person in public. It's why I am going to talk to a therapist. It's how I know I have a problem that extends beyond my glasses. The more people who tell me that the solution is simply to not care, the more broken I feel. I know the advice is meant well, but it's not that easy for me, even though I wish it was.
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