Charles Bonnet Syndrome

As one ages, there are a number of afflictions that become more prevalent.Cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and a host of other illness are typically found quite pervasively in the elderly population. The reality that disease accompanies old age is not something that comes as a shock to many individuals. What comes is a shock is being diagnosed with a disease that is rarely discussed and typically unknown to the layman. While many elderly fear the onset of diabetes or cancer, they are shocked to find that there are a myriad of rare diseases that few people know much about. Although these afflictions are well publicized in the medical field, unless an individual is specifically afflicted with these diseases, little, if any, public information is made accessible about these conditions. Such is the case with Charles Bonnet Syndrome or CBS. Charles Bonnet Syndrome research papers have been written by psychology experts. We can produce a custom written project following your guidelines.

Charles Bonnet Syndrome Diagnoses

For many individuals newly diagnosed with the disease, the first question is inevitably, "What is CBS?" According to an author Charles Bonnet Syndrome is the presence of complex visual hallucinations in an individual who is otherwise psychologically competent. Although many may believe that CBS is a precursor or relative to schizophrenic disorders, CBS differs, in that , it is not a psychological impairment; rather it is a condition that affects the way in which a person sees. While CBS has been known to coexist with other psychiatric illnesses-such as depression-the CBS is not viewed as a psychiatric disorder.

The Description of CBS

The description of CBS provided above is, arguably, somewhat vague. This is because there is currently no universal method for diagnosing Charles Bonnet Syndrome. In spite of this physicians have developed rudimentary guidelines for diagnosing the disease. While these guidelines are well published in the literature, they have not been accepted by the American Medical Association or any other medical accrediting agency. Springer goes on to note that the diagnostic criteria for CBS include the following. The afflicted individual:

• has visual hallucinations that are complex, persistent, or repetitive;
• retains full or partial insight into the unreality of the hallucinations;
• does not have hallucinations in other modalities;
• does not have delusional ideation .

When these criteria are met, the patient is diagnosed with CBS.