Acute loss of vision in a young woman: A case report on psychogenic blindness

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Acute loss of vision needs urgent attention and treatment. We report on a young Ethiopian woman who experienced acute bilateral blindness. In the presence of normal ophthalmological findings psychogenic blindness has to be considered. CASE DETAILS: A 21 years old woman was admitted to the psychiatry clinic at Jimma University specialized Hospital, Jimma, South West Ethiopia. She had not been able to see for a few days. Ophthalmological and neurological examinations showed normal findings. No severe psychopathology was found. Stressful life events had preceded the appearance of the symptoms. An attitude of accepting the perspective of the patient of a seemingly organic disease is a precondition for a successful intervention. Treatment aimed at a gradual return to normal functioning. The patient regained her sight and fully recovered. The final psychiatric diagnosis was psychogenic blindness. CONCLUSION: The psychosocial intervention was successful and encouraging for the patient and clinicians.

Sudden Mono-ocular Vision Loss in An Adolescent Female: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

“…According to a 2013 World Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet, visual function is defined in four levels -normal, moderate visual impairment, severe visual impairment and blindness. [4] The most common causes of visual impairment, representing about 50% of all forms of blindness in the developing world is cataract. In low-income and lower middle-income countries particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the causes of avoidable blindness include: cataract (50%), glaucoma (15%), corneal opacities (10%), trachoma (6.8%), congenital blindness (5.3%) and onchocerciasis (4%) [5].…”

Interesting case of sudden unilateral blindness in a teenager: role of psychological intervention in psychogenic visual loss

“…Only after such evaluation and with findings demonstrating visual acuity is better than subjectively claimed and no apparent pathology, a non-organic visual loss is diagnosed. 9 The foundations of treatment of psychogenic blindness is education and reassurance. Time should be spent on explaining the non-organic nature, time course, and reassurance of expected complete visual recovery.…”

The causes, diagnostics, and treatment of psychogenic blindness – a systematic review

“…• Acute stress Acute stress has been a triggering factor for the onset of psychogenic blindness in 7 out of 17 patients. Two patients, a 21-year-old female, and a 22-year-old male, experienced vision loss with onset before upcoming exams in college or university [11,17]. Another patient suffered from vision loss after a traumatic visual experience: a 48-year-old man looked at his broken finger after a traffic accident, which caused him to faint and lose vision [18].…”

“…Other concomitant risk factors, which were present in the aforementioned cases, included: acute physical injury [21,26], chronic health problems [24,28], coexisting conversion disorders (multiple personality disorder [19,20], or mutism [17]), migraine headaches [17,23], family problems [17,19,23,24], unfulfilling or unhappy personal life [19,25], stress in school or at university [17,21].…”