![]() ![]() My guide dog Kika can sense when I have a hallucination and she very sweetly puts her head on my knee to comfort me.” My wife has even heard me shouting at her in my sleep. “She stands in a terrifying silence and she follows me everywhere – on the train, on the tube, in the street. Relaying his personal account of CBS on the National Eye Research Centre website, Dr Amit Patel, who lost his sight in 2012 due to a hemorrhage in both eyes stated, “My personal hallucination is of a young woman covered in blood, mud, and tears. Thankfully, the brain appears to be aware that what it is sensing is not real but as this first-person account demonstrates, the limitless nature of the human imagination means that some people experiencing CBS might journey to some very dark places. Strange apparitions, gargoyles, Big Cats roaming the garden and figures dressed in period costume have also been observed. Ghost faces, staring eyes, snarling devil dogs and zombies with blood dripping from empty eye sockets have all been cited. It is, however, the increased prevalence of sinister hallucinations during the long dark months of lockdown that are of greatest concern. Other images, such as floating musical notes, grids, shapes, mosaics and lettering and mathematical equations appearing on the wall at home, sound somewhat psychedelic but not necessarily disturbing. People have reported “seeing” cartoon characters, unicorns, bubbles, rainbows and beautiful landscapes. The hallucinations themselves can be curious, even pleasant on occasions. Paradoxically, the response of the brain is not to reduce but rather increase the cells firing, and it is this increase that causes hallucinations.”Īlso described by some as the sight loss equivalent of an amputee experiencing a “phantom limb,” the loss of vital brain signals to dampen down and regulate electrical activity in the visual cortex, can cause visions lasting for anything from a few seconds, to several minutes at a time. “If the retina is damaged, the stream of impulses reduces. Dominic Ffytche, the sole globally-acknowledged expert on Charles Bonnet Syndrome told The Mirror, “The nerve cells in the retina send a constant stream of impulses along the visual pathways, which are passed to the visual parts of the brain.” The hallucinations are ascribed to neurological changes in the way the eyes and brain communicate during the course of various eye diseases, such as Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, glaucoma and inherited retinal disorders. ![]()
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