Phantom Vision

Seeing floaters and flashes is one thing, but what if you start seeing fanciful flowers, flock of flying birds, or frolicking ferrets that are not really there? Do not freak out you are probably not going crazy. You are most likely experiencing the classic signs of CHARLES BONNET SYNDROME. In this condition, mentally healthy people see phantom visions, a form of visual hallucinations. Some have reported seeing such pleasant visions as groups of children, animals, vivid visual patterns, or even bucolic country scenes. They can last a few seconds or minutes, and they may recur periodically over months or even years.

Some people claim they not only enjoy these visions but can change them at will. Others, however, find them embarassing and frightening, fearing they may be losing their mind. But Charles Bonnet Syndrome sufferers, unlike many psychotic individuals, are aware their visions are not real. And their visions are never accompanied by auditory hallucinations, a common sign of psychosis.

Rather than losing their mind, people with phantom visions are likely to be losing their eyesight. Indeed, in most cases, phantom visions are signs of poor or deteriorating eyesight or other eye problems, such as glaucoma, cataracts, and especially Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). AMD is a very common and serious degenerative eye disease that is the leading cause of vision loss in adults. Women, whites, people with light-colored eyes, smokers, and the obeses are at increased risk. AMD also appears to run in families.

Phantom visions are actually fairly common among people with poor eyesight; estimates run from 10 to 40%. They are thought to be similar to Phantom Limbs, the experience of feeling an arm or leg after an amputation, and may be the failing eye's attempt to compensate for lost vision by recalling past images. Simply improving home lighting may help make the visions disappear. Interestingly, when some people with deteriorating eyesight become totally blind they no longer "see" the phantom visions.

When phantom visions occur in people with normal eyesight, it can signal Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, stroke, or another neurological condition. Unfortunately, people who experience phantom visions are often hesitant to tell their doctors because of fear of being labeled psychotic, demented, or drug-addicted. As a result, they may not get the treatment needed to help save their eyesight or treat the underliyng cause.

If you notice that you are having difficulty seeing things to the side of you or you are losing your peripheral vision, it may be a forewarning of glaucoma, degeneration of the retina, or even a stroke.