Charles Bonnet Syndrome
Charles Bonnet syndrome is a disease in which visual hallucinations occur because of vision loss. People with this syndrome are aware that their hallucinations are not real. The hallucinations people experience can be described as simple or complex. Simple hallucinations include shapes and patterns, while complex include images of people, vehicles, animals, and plants. Hallucination episodes can range from a few seconds to hours and may recur over the course of several days to years. CBS occurs after losing your eyesight or having visual impairment due to surgery complications or an underlying condition. There’s no cure for CBS, but several things may help to make the condition more manageable. For this project I have tried to visualize what people suffering from CBS experience on the daily. In one eye, the vision is normal and the scene that everyone around them sees as well. In the other eye, hallucinations can be seen, having altered the reality of life.
Hallucinations occur when the affected person is awake, and are usually purely visual and not associated with sound hallucinations. A person with CBS is generally aware that images are not real, though he or she may initially be confused by them. Here we view an example of hallucinations appearing in the right eye. The images are randomly selected, not displaying any theme. Most commonly people see complicated coloured patterns, children, wild animals and faces. The faces may be of people they recognise. This may include seeing people from the past, and people who have died.
CBS hallucinations may be enjoyable or annoying, but are generally not frightening. They come and go, often over months or years, without obvious cause and occur without cognitive or psychiatric disease. Seen in the right eye once again the scene has changed, but it is something that could appear in normal life. The hallucinations may move or remain still, and they can appear in black and white or color. The length of the hallucinations can last seconds, minutes, or hours.
Appearing in the left eye are the hallucinations. This time it is not realistic, but there are less hallucinations present than the previous photos. The hallucinations of CBS often fit into the person’s surroundings, such as seeing wild animals on the staircase, extra people, trees or animals at the bus stop, and children surrounding the person’s bed at night. There’s no cure for CBS, but several things could help to make the condition more manageable. Like changing your position when you have a hallucination, moving your eyes or staring right at the hallucination, using additional lighting in your surroundings, stimulating your other senses by listening to audiobooks or music, engaging in social activities to avoid social isolation, and reducing stress and anxiety.
Research
“Charles Bonnet Syndrome”
- An article published by American Society of Retina Specialists
CBS is more common in people aged 80 years and above, but can occur at any age. Experiencing CBS does not mean the individual’s eye condition is worsening, and people can have visual hallucinations even if they have only mild visual loss or small blind spots in their vision. “CBS is estimated to affect 10% to 30% of people with visual impairment involving both eyes, although the estimates may be lower than the true prevalence.”
“The exact cause of visual hallucinations is not known. Most researchers believe they are due to deafferentation: a loss of signals from the eye to the brain. There is some evidence from special MRI studies indicating that these signals normally inhibit nerve activity in the brain; when the signals are absent, there is more spontaneous nerve activity that is perceived as hallucinations.”
www.asrs.org/patients/retinal-diseases/38/charles-bonnet-syndrome
“Charles Bonnet Syndrome”
- An article published by Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center
“The timing and frequency of hallucinations can vary widely. The hallucinations tend to occur upon awakening. They usually last several minutes, but can be seconds or hours. Typically, there is a distinctive pattern to the timing and frequency of the hallucinations. The degree and complexity of the hallucinations also vary among individuals, but no association has been found between the complexity of the hallucinations and the severity of visual loss.”
rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/10343/charles-bonnet-syndrome
“What is Charles Bonnet Syndrome”
- An article published by Healthline
“A 2009 study found that anywhere from 10 percent to 38 percent of people with sudden vision impairment have CBS at some point.”
To diagnose CBS, your doctor will likely give you a physical exam and ask you to describe your hallucinations. “They may also order an MRI scan and check for any cognitive or memory-related issues to rule out any other conditions.”