Your parents are right. You need to accept that a cure may be far away, but I do acknowledge that this is easier said than done.

I also would (go through risky clinical trials), but unfortunately, for the vast majority of us there will be no cures. My suggestions would be to research the drug to market process (understand how complex, unlikely, and amount of time it takes), identify your gene, and then maybe search every once in a while (every few months at most) with the expectation that there won't be anything new (because there's >90% chance there won't).

I don't know how spiritual you are, but understanding the judeo/christian/islamic common message of "do not make partners with god" has been incredibly helpful for me. God is in part, by definition, without limits. It would be cruel to force such a tremendous expectation on yourself.

It is definitely not good for your mental health. First you need to except your RP diagnosis.. no need to obsess or worry about something you cannot change. Just enjoy whatever vision you do have and better yourself with assistive technologies, etc. As far as mobility goes, I am a big advocate for seeing eye dogs. . I never liked using canes. Since I got my dog my confidence level has skyrocketed. Also the dog alone could help you mentally as well. In my opinion anyway.

Losing hope is not good but unrealistic hope is not good either. I’ve had psoriatic arthritis since I was 23. I’m 58 now. About 15 years ago my rheumatologist told me not to count on anything earth shattering in my lifetime. That’s pretty damn scary because this disease can be crippling. It’s horrible. That said I think that forced me to look at my situation realistically so I’m living my life the way I want to live my life, I’m taking care of my health first and if something pops up that’s magically going to fix it then I will be absolutely thrilled but if it doesn’t then I have reached the point where I’m not gonna be crushed either.

It sounds like you’re doing all of the right things and as someone who’s partner is legally blind and probably will be completely blind within five years, you can still live a good independent life. He lives on his own, he takes the bus everywhere, does everything for himself. He even built a computer a few months Ago. The only thing he couldn’t manage were the front panel connecters but honestly even with 2020 vision those are always hard. He did a university degree in his 40s. You will get through this and you live in a time when the technology is there to help you maintain and improve your quality of life

Unfortunately I have to agree with your parents. Have you considered getting therapy to process your side loss? because it is a kind of loss

I did within the first 6 months or so of my diagnosis... but honestly, at this point, I pretty much am indifferent towards a cure. I just live the best life I can while I can, and if a cure comes along, its a bonus

personally, I am not optimistic... it would be a pretty cool experience to be able to see again though,

Well you can be hopeful, because an 8 year old kid with retinitis pigmentosa just $1 for life.

Ah, your the same guy that created the topic about being homeless after getting kicked out by your parents, then getting beat up and having your stuff stolen.
A topic which you deleted one day later, and when asked about it denied ever posting it, even though removeddit told a different story.

https://www.removeddit.com/r/Blind/comments/j4lw7h/blind_homeless_grad_school_dropout/

At this point I'm wondering if you were also the person who made the post saying that blind people should be euthanized and how they'd rather die than go blind... Because our lives are so pathetic compared to sighted people's.

Regardless, while I definitely sympathize, I would appreciate it if you would try harder to keep what ever is going on inside your head from spilling over onto us in a destructive way in the future.