Charles Bonnet syndrome and phantom images

CBS is a condition which affects some people when they have lost some or all of their vision. It causes phantom images which means they see things which aren’t really there.

In healthy eyes light rays bouncing off objects around you will enter the eyes, sending electrical signals to the brain, where it is processed allowing us to see. When your eyes are affected by certain diseases your brain does not receive as much visual information. To make-up for the loss of visual information your brain may make up images or releases old images which you have stored. You see these images as if they are real.

Sometimes, people worry that phantom images are a sign of a mental health problem, but they are not. It is important to remember that for some people phantom images are their brain’s normal response to vision loss.