This article supports the view that the “pseudohallucinations” of Charles Bonnet syndrome are related to vision loss, not to psychosis. It proposes that the symbolic content of the images can be used to facilitate the psychosocial adaptation to the loss of vision, just as the interpretation of dreams does for sighted people in psychotherapeutic treatment, and presents several clinical vignettes to illustrate this point.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BonnetC. (1769). Essai analytique sur les facultes d l'ame [Analytical Essay about the Faculties of a Friend (2nd ed.)]. Copenhagen: Philibert.
2.
CummingsJ. L., & MillerB. L. (1987). Visual hallucinations: Clinical occurrence and use in differential diagnosis. Western Journal of Medicine, 146, 46–51.
3.
De MorsierG. (1936). Les automatismes visuels (Hallucinations visuelles retro-chias-matiques) [Involuntary images (retro-chias-matic visual hallucinations)]. Schweiz. Med. Wochenschr. 66, 700–703.
4.
GoldK., & RabinsP. V. (1989). Isolated visual hallucinations and the Charles Bonnet syndrome: A review of the literature and presentation of six cases. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 30, 90–98.
5.
LevineA. M. (1980). Visual hallucinations and cataracts. Ophthalmic Surgery, 11, 95–98.
6.
McNamaraM. E., HerosR. C., & BoilerF. (1982). Visual hallucinations in blindness: The Charles Bonnet syndrome. International Journal of Neuroscience, 17, 13–15.
7.
NeedhamW. E., & TaylorR. E. (1992). Benign visual hallucinations, or “phantom vision” in visually impaired and blind persons. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 86, 245–248.
8.
Reyes-OrtizC. A., CamachoM. E., MulliganT., & McGuireH. H. (1996). Charles Bonnet syndrome in a centenarian. Journal of the American Medical Association, 276, letter 8.
9.
TeunisseR. J.CruysbergJ. R., HoefnagelsW. H., KuinY., VerbeekA. L., & ZitmanF. G. (1999). Social and psychological characteristics of elderly visually handicapped patients with the Charles Bonnet syndrome. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 40, 315–319.
10.
Wagner-LamplA., & OliverG. W. (1988). Bringing imagery into the world of visual impairment. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 82, 373–377.
11.
WhiteN. J. (1980). Complex visual hallucinations in partial blindness due to eye disease. British Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 284–286.
