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Is aged parent seeing things?
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Message 1.Â
Posted by Morganish (U9108847) on Monday, 5th April 2010
Yesterday I was told about a syndrome which had been affecting the elderly mother of a friend of mine. I had never heard of it and I thought it might be useful to spread the word, particularly among those supporting the elderly.
It's Charles Bonnet syndrome, and the symptoms are seeing things that aren't there. In my friend's case, her mother kept seeing squirrels around the house — and small people. She got herself into a terrible state by rationalising that an old stone gnome in the garden had come alive and was inhabiting the house and letting the squirrels in. She was frantic with fear and the family thought she'd gone quite mad. She was admitted to hospital for tests and was in there for a month before Charles Bonnet syndrome was diagnosed.
From what I understand, it is an eye condition. The retina doesn't function properly, so the brain takes over and comes up with an image that people 'see'. The images can be practically anything, but animals and little people are most common. I know it sounds like an April Fool, but it isn't - and it may explain the erratic behaviour that some elderly people exhibit. My friend's mother had been seeing things for a couple of years, and trying to cope with her fear alone, before she eventually admitted what was making her so spooked. Just thought I'd pass the info around... -
Message 2
Posted by Sunny Clouds (U14258963) on Monday, 5th April 2010
I thought it was just a condition experienced by visually impaired people? I've met quite a few VI people online with it, but I didn't think non-VI people got it. Is it common amongst non-VI people?
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Message 3
Posted by Morganish (U9108847) on Monday, 5th April 2010
Oooh, SC: I don't rightly know. All I can say is that friend's elderly mother, a glasses wearer but with no other diagnosed visual impairment has developed it in her very late 70s. Everyone immediately assumed it was some form of dementia or a urinary infection, but it turns out to be an eye problem.
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Message 4
Posted by Sunny Clouds (U14258963) on Monday, 5th April 2010
This thread has prompted me to look it up. Wikepedia says it "predominantly" affects people with visual impairments, so evidently it affects some people that don't. I've learnt something new.
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Message 5
Posted by Flightless Anachronistic Bird (U6437464) on Monday, 5th April 2010
I've also done some googling. It tends to be underreported (people fear that they may be thought insane), but direct questioning of people in a low vision clinic revealed that 24% (12/50 questioned) had experienced this. That's an incredibly high percentage.
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Message 6
Posted by Morganish (U9108847) on Monday, 5th April 2010
The geriatrician who was looking after my friend's mother told them that it's surprisingly common and should be more widely known. But it's easy to see why people don't talk about it. Which is why I thought I would try to publicise it.
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Message 7
Posted by That Old Janx Spirit (U2140966) on Monday, 5th April 2010
No, my gran had something similar a couple of years ago. Shoot me if I'm wrong, but I think it was regulated by... um... blood pressure tablet? Not sure, but it can be alleviated.
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Message 8
Posted by strawberrysunrise (U10452397) on Monday, 5th April 2010
a while back a local elderly farmer* took a pot shot at something, he had been seeing odd things, then got diagnosed when the family got him to admit what was going on,(after letting off a gun in the house at 3am,) must be very frighting to experience it.
*friend's uncle -
Message 9
Posted by Flightless Anachronistic Bird (U6437464) on Monday, 5th April 2010
Shoot me if I'm wrong, but I think it was regulated by... um... blood pressure tablet? Not sure, but it can be alleviated.Â
Hi TOJS,
No intention - or wish - to shoot you.
From my very brief reading of the bits of the scinetific literature that I could get into:
- there is no treatment
- but for most people it ceases to be a problem (in the sense of acsuing anxiety) once they have had it explained
- the syndrome itself usually self-limits in 12-18 months
It was a very brief review though, so anyone is welcome to correct me (though preferably not by shooting
) -
Message 10
Posted by yorkshire puddin (U4522617) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
Morganish
Thanks for posting this.
I had no idea about it. I just found this youtube clip
The lady explains the fear before she knew what it was and how long it took someone to diagnose.
I worked in a nursing home once and a lady with dimentia used to see small children playing in the garden, maybe this explains it. -
Message 11
Posted by Morganish (U9108847) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
Hi Yorkshire P, from what the geriatrician said, it is beginning to be suspected that more elderly people suffer from this than has previously been recognised and that because it isn't widely known about they are being written off as demented when what they actually have is visual disturbance. According to him, many people see little characters in Victorian dress. Makes me wonder about fairies and ghosts!
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Message 12
Posted by Alsdouble (U524298) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
Interesting.
My mother saw flowers, cherubs flitting about etc etc. I remember at the time thinking it sounded very trippy.
Visual impairment. Due to what?. Something to do with blood supply. Oxygen.
Some schools of thinking on this planet positively encourage such visualisations. (Within limits.) And have control of such things, or can have.
Wonder what their view on the subject would be. -
Message 13
Posted by the_shellgrottolady (U2395646) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
Hi Morganish
my grandmother had this. She was completely sane and it was just a visual disturbance. Her doctor explained it well - i have a feeling it was something to do with macular degeneration and as she said it was just because her eyes were getting worn out like the rest of her...
she saw people with hats in victorian dress and a horse and cart going round the bedroom. i think it was sparked off from the design on the wall paper - the flowery pattern did look a bit like hats.. It wasn't always there though and she found it annoying although her vivid descriptions were fascinating and sometimes amusing to us...
another thing she saw was a vivid grid pattern over everything...
Not madness or senility nor visions - just a disturbance. -
Message 14
Posted by Katyagain (U6449139) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
Fascinating thread. We have probably all experienced that weird sensation when you 'see' a face,say, in a randomly patterned piece of lino or tree bark for instance. It's the brain trying to make sense of what the eyes are seeing and all humans tend to try to see human faces. Think it may be to do with babyhood brain development. Could also explain some of those ' Jesus' face in a piece of toast' stories.
Presumably this condition results from this kind of thing. -
Message 15
Posted by Alsdouble (U524298) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
<>
You reckon eh......
It might not be. -
Message 16
Posted by 19thCGirl (U13842375) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
I realise that you are talking about a quite specific diagnosis but if anyone has an elderly parent who suddenly starts to see things then there might also be a more short term problem of urine infection (and severe dehydration) - this can cause all sorts of hallucinatory-type symptoms. Both my mother and mother-in-law had this repeatedly in their final years. Quite often happens in the elderly with other significant health issues but can also be one of the first signs of problems too.
No doubt most people probably know this but thought it worth mentioning. -
Message 17
Posted by Morganish (U9108847) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
Perhaps I need to make it clear that this is not about a temporary shortage of oxygen or trying to see faces in patterns etc. It is something to do with the link between eye and brain. The eye doesn't function properly, so the brain fills in the gap by pulling out an image to fill the missing information that is not being supplied by the eye. It is an eye problem - though why the brain seems to supply images of small people in top hats, which is apparently very common, is not known. Yes, obviously when an elderly person suddenly and inexplicably goes a bit doolally it is likely to be a urinary infection. But they can't control their behaviour when they have a urinary infection and as I know all too well they can undergo a complete personality change. But if anyone has an elderly relative who suddenly seems scared or worried, or reports seeing things, it might be worth asking a few questions. My friend's mother had thought she was going mad and for a long time kept quiet about seeing squirrels and gnomes. It has been a massive relief for everyone to find out that it has a physical explanation.
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Message 18
Posted by atishy twinkletwinkle pop (U14258311) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
Last year a visiting aunt from overseas had reason to get emergency medication, I don't recall the ins and outs of that but she was prescribed too strong a dose. She luckily is quite rational so didn't panic when she saw cats strolling out of the skirting board. She felt very well in every other respect so allowed herself to be entertained for the day until her hostess arrived home and sorted it out.
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Message 19
Posted by Everything Stops 4 Tea (U3819066) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
I've had carp eyes from birth, plus an ongoing medical condition from an old brain injury, and I sometimes see 'things'; mostly coloured lights and wavy/wobbly shapes that float and move around. It usually happens when I'm very tired and I have got used to it over the years. No-one's ever told me the condition will go away, but, then again, it's no worse/frequent either. I live with it; only happens say, once a week, and I've sort of trained myself to ignore it. Once had a nasty visual disturbance experience on an Underground escalator, which made me sick, but that was rare.
The disturbances are usually very colourful; 'day-glo' colours that hurt my eyes and make them water as if I'd been staring at the sun. Occasionally the images are monotone; like a giant bar code with lots of vertical lines in various thicknesses that start jumping up and down. Never seen Little People, although I 'saw things' as a child; which no-one except my Fond Grandma took at all seriously. -
Message 20
Posted by douglas the rabbit (U13762692) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
There was a thread about this syndrome a couple of years ago. Until then I'd never heard of it, despite lots of experience with the elderly, so good idea to flag it up to others who may encounter it..
Strange how the hallucinations seem to follow a pattern. When MiL had hallucinations from her Parkinson's meds it was invariably small animals running around the hospital ward. We were told that small animals were the most common manifestation of this condition. Once though it was Princess Diana RIP... -
Message 21
Posted by atishy twinkletwinkle pop (U14258311) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
Hello there Es4t, m'deario, greetings and grovellings and hope to be in touch soon. Sorry to hear you have a free psychedelic eye display but good for you that you don't let it get in the way. I'd suggest a lie down in a dark room on such occasions but perhaps that just enhances the performance.
Cuppa, biccy? All welcome. (Dark rooms are extra.) -
Message 22
Posted by brennyagain (U14375381) on Tuesday, 6th April 2010
I have come across this syndrome quiet alot . The releif people feel when they are told they are not going mad is teriffic, Other medical professionals on the otherhand can be rather "snippy" when they recieve the same information and sometimes refuse to believe that its a medical rather than a psychiatric causation.
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