Can Blind People Hallucinate
Bonnet hallucinations are usually well defined and clear often elaborate visual hallucinations restricted to a single modality ie visual hallucinations only without associated olfactory gustatory auditory or tactile.
Can blind people hallucinate. The hallucinations may be of objects visual patterns people or lights. Around 1 in 10 people with visual impairments develop something called charles bonnet syndrome cbs. People with significant vision loss may have vivid recurrent visual hallucinations fictive visual percepts.
For example you might see a person who s not in the room or flashing lights that no one else can see. Learn what can cause these visual hallucinations. It was in an oliver sachs book i will look it up if you want.
This is a rare condition where you go blind but won t admit it. It causes intricate lifelike and recurring hallucinations in patients who have significant vision loss especially in those diagnosed with macular degeneration diabetic retinopathy or glaucoma. These hallucinations can include simple or complex hallucinations including geometric shapes animals zoopsias human figures buildings or landscape scenes.
Charles bonnet syndrome is a common although rather obscure and underresearched condition that is becoming ever more prevalent as the population ages and people live longer. A good portion of all mind altering drugs can cause hallucinations to a certain extent. Smoking marijuana in high doses have made people hallucinate before.
Then if they had become blind due to illness and accident and could remember being sighted they could hallucinate visually. As many as 15 per cent of visually impaired or blind people may experience charles bonnet syndrome cbs which takes its name from the 18th century swiss naturalist who first described the phenomenon experienced by his grandfather. Hallucinations are actually more common in visually impaired people.
Often the people around you don t know it s happened until you run into. Can blind people hallucinate.
