Phantom vision or psychotic malady? A case report of Charles Bonnet syndrome plus

Abstract

Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) is commonly experienced by elderly individuals after acute or gradual loss of vision. It is characterized by complex and vivid visual release hallucinations with insight into the unreality of visual experiences, which cannot be explained by any other psychiatric or neurodegenerative disorder. Most often these hallucinations are visual only without hallucinations in other sensory modalities. Here, we report an atypical case of CBS in an 80-year-old male who presented with complex visual scenic, auditory, and olfactory hallucinations after visual loss secondary to glaucoma with no insight and no cognitive decline. He further showed improvement in the low-dose antipsychotic and mood stabilizer combination.