Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) is a phenomenon when affected individuals start to see objects or things which are not real. These are also known as ‘visual hallucinations’ which involve forms from patterns of straight lines to well-detailed pictures of buildings or people. Thus, this syndrome causes vision loss in the affected persons who experience complex visual hallucinations. Read on to know more about Charles Bonnet syndrome.
An Overview of Charles Bonnet Syndrome
Charles Bonnet, a Swiss philosopher, was the first person to describe the syndrome in 1760. He observed that his almost blind grandfather was seeing buildings, birds, figures and patterns. They were actually not present. This syndrome affects those who have serious vision loss. Also, it affects those who lose their vision later. Although, Charles Bonnet syndrome can occur at any age, which affects after a gradual loss of vision. The complex visual hallucinations mostly stop in a year to 18 months.
The eye syndrome was first identified almost 250 years ago, but ironically it is still unknown in the medical fraternity. Most doctors and nurses are not even aware about the syndrome. This is because of lack of general knowledge and awareness. Also, most of the affected people shy away from talking about the problem from fear of being labeled as mentally ill.
Causes of Charles Bonnet Syndrome
Very little information and knowledge is available about how our brain stores information that it receives from the eye and how the information is used to create the picture or visual which we see. In the affected people, who have lost their sight, the brains stops receiving as many pictures as it used to earlier. Hence, old or fantasy pictures already stored in the brain are released. Thus, an affected person experiences as if he/she is actually seeing the old or fantasy picture. This mostly happens when the affected people are idle such as lying in the bed or sitting alone in a familiar place.
