Sometimes things are just black and white. When a person is colorblind that can be their entire world.

That monochromatic extreme is rare, said Joe Trull, O.D., at Eyedesigns in Port Orchard, who himself has trouble telling different greens apart.

”The majority of cases are mild and people are purely functional,” Trull said. “You see them talking about it (colorblindness) on TV and they always choose the worst case.”

Michael B. Murphy spends a lot of time looking at maps as a member of the Peninsula Advisory Commission. The commission reviews site plans, environmental impact statements and building designs before sending them to the Pierce County Council for approval. When the maps and other materials are color coded, he has a hard time distinguishing the different areas.

“I can see colors when they’re very distinct and very bright and there’s a high contrast between them,” Murphy said. “For instance, in the early morning looking to the west I can’t tell whether it’s blue or gray. I don’t know what kind of day it is. Low-light situations are the worst — the colors have the same value.”

Murphy is one among the nine percent of American men who live with colorblindness, also known as visual color deficiency. Only one percent of women have any form of colorblindness.

There is no “cure.” Trull said a red-coated X-chrome lens, placed in only one eye, can assist in those rare cases.

“It helps with the contrast,” he said, “[but)] you get some funny looks for sure.”
Murphy has a relatively mild case in that he can see still see colors. His color viewing weakness was originally discovered when he was in junior high. Murphy said he put it in the back of his mind but was reminded it of it when he failed some tests trying to get his commercial driver’s license.

He’s lived with it fairly easily since then.

“I don’t find that the affliction effects my life one way or the other,” he said. “I think sometimes I announce it in meetings and such in a way to say, ‘I’m special.’ Conversely, to put people at ease I mention it to say, ‘look I’ve got my problems, too.’ It’s not that bad but it does create problems. It’s not something I need special accommodation for.”

Like a deaf person who’s sight improves, Murphy believes his eyes have adjusted over the years so he can “see” the colors his rods and cones really aren’t capable of registering.

“I’m sure unconsciously I’ve developed the ability to compensate,” he said. “What I see as red others might not see it as red. What does somebody else see? I don’t know.”

People view color using three types of photoreceptors in the retina: S-cones, M-cones and L-cones. In dichromatic vision, one of these photoreceptors is missing, in the more-common anomalous trichromancy, sensitivity shifts among different types of cones, making it difficult to distinguish certain colors.

Colorblindness is a sex-linked trait. His dad had the same thing and memorized eye charts to make sure he could get in the Navy. Murphy said he has not, yet, checked his two boys. They haven’t told him they’ve had any problems.

“I think it’s an affliction I think not a lot of people even know they have,” he said.

Trull agrees. He didn’t know until his junior year in college. Then he found out he had a form of colorblindness. And though he has some minor troubles, he became an eye doctor.

“With my clothes I have to ask my wife about shades of green to make sure they go together,’ he said. “It’s why I’m happy traffic lights are up and down and not side by side.”.