Since DS changes how the player behaves (jump, hunger, hurting etc) I'd like to suggest a thing:

Make it so that depending on the helmet the player is using, the screen renders an overlay like the pumpkin blur. Obviously, there will be an overlay for each helmet: golden, iron, leather etc. even modded.

The overlay could be inherited from the respective armor png itself or it would be a separate png, which gives more freedom to customize.