Charles Bonnet syndrome is a condition that causes patients with visual loss
to have complex visual hallucinations. It was first described by Charles
Bonnet in 1760 and was incorporated into English-speaking psychiatry in
1982. Most of the people afflicted with Charles Bonnet Syndrome are
individuals who are in the early stages of sight loss, and the hallucinations
usually begin while the person’s vision is slowly diminishing. The most
common culprit is macular degeneration, a disease where certain light-
sensing cells in the retina malfunction and cause a slowly worsening blind
spot in the center of one’s vision.
People who have Charles Bonnet syndrome often see vivid yet unreal
images. Some people have reported seeing surfaces covered in non-
existent patterns such as brickwork or tiles, while others see phantom objects
in astonishing detail, including people, animals, or buildings. These visual
images can last for a couple seconds or for several hours, often appearing
and vanishing abruptly. The hallucinations may consist of commonplace
items such as bottles or clothing, or creepy nonsense such as dancing
children with giant flowers for heads. One characteristic of the hallucinations
is that they usually involve objects that are smaller than normal.