I've started losing my sight and think I am seeing things that aren't really there. What should I do?

Although this can be very distressing, try not to panic. When you have lost sight, seeing things that aren't really there, known as visual hallucinations, is fairly common and is often called Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS). This condition is not a mental health problem or a symptom of another disease. However if you do start to experience hallucinations it may be best to talk to your GP so that other causes can be ruled out.

Your hallucinations can be of almost anything you can think of, they can range from simple patterns, shapes or colours, to vivid detailed pictures of people, animals, objects or buildings. CBS hallucinations may be very detailed, and much clearer than your everyday vision. The images appear very suddenly, lasting for just a few minutes or in some cases, several hours.

There are two main types of hallucinations that you may experience.

  • simple repeated patterns or shapes, such as grids or brickwork patterns (you may also also see brickwork or mosaic patterns that can grow in size to cover more and more of your vision)
  • complex hallucinations of people, objects and landscapes. (Sometimes the images can be totally unreal, like fantasy pictures of dragons or unicorns.)

When you first develop CBS your visual hallucinations may happen quite often; you may see things every day and for long periods of time. However, your hallucinations usually get less frequent over a number of months and they may eventually stop.

Please see Do you have any tips on how to deal with Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) hallucinations?

Esme's Umbrella is a campaign group working towards a greater awareness of Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS). For further information see What is Esme's Umbrella?

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