Have you ever seen shapes, patterns, or faces when you look at clouds? This is a common phenomenon displaying the brain’s power. It fills in the void and connects the dots to make an image.
So when someone tells you that they’re seeing images that are not visible to you, think twice before questioning their sanity.
Consider the person’s age or loss of vision. A rare condition, Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS), may be the culprit. Also known as visual release hallucinations, this caused people with low vision to see patterns of dots and lines, landscapes, imaginary creatures, people, and animals. They may be still or moving pictures, black-and-white or dazzling color.
It is found in mostly elderly people who have suffered from age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, or glaucoma. The damage to the eyes compromises the visual system’s feedback to the brain, causing hallucinations. It is not a mental disorder.
Losing one’s vision can lead to depression. When visually impaired persons suffer from CBS, they begin to doubt themselves. Many do not admit to having hallucinations for fear of being diagnosed with mental illness.
The condition was first described in 1760 by Charles Bonnet, who documented observations of his 87-year-old grandfather, who was nearly blind from cataracts in both eyes.
While there is no cure for CBS, seeing a doctor is important to rule out other conditions. The doctor can help create a plan for managing the condition or provide reassurance and suggest available resources.
A few tips to deal with visual hallucinations:
- Consider the lighting. Change the environment to dim lights or make them brighter, depending on the original condition. Decrease the noise if the hallucination happened in a crowded, noisy location.
- Use your eye muscles. Experiment with what would make the image go away. Stare at the image or look away. Move your eyes up and down or side to side without moving your head.
- Keep a notepad and track when this happens. If you tend to be tired, ensure that you get plenty of rest.
- Seek medical help.
- Look for support groups. Empathy and reassurance go a long way.
Sources:
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-charles-bonnet-syndrome
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3555593/
https://www.bmj.com/content/328/7455/1552
https://charlesbonnetsyndrome.org/index.php/cbs-ii/personal-stories
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13330771-hallucinations
Collated by Rachielle Sheffler
