A Case of Complex Visual Disturbance in a Patient with Major Depressive Disorder Successfully Treated with Buspar

Visual perceptual disturbances in psychiatry range from absence of sensory stimuli to sensory distortion or deception [1]. Although less common than auditory hallucination, the presence of visual perceptual disturbance in patients with mental illness can be distressing [2]. Ascertaining the cause and type of visual perceptual disturbance occurring in symptomatic patients can be difficult to delineate and are often for descriptive purposes [1]. An uncommon type of illusion is pareidolia which is a “type of complex visual illusion involving ambiguous forms being perceived as meaningful objects” [3]. It is a peculiar, natural, function of the human brain that makes an individual to impose patterns on random collections of images or sounds [3]. The ability to recognize faces is a function of Fusiform Face Area (FFA) located in the fusiform gyrus on the temporal lobe of the human brain [4]. Of note, cultural and religious backgrounds may influence visual perception [5,6]. Pareidolic illusions have been reported in cases of Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson Disease but rarely in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) [3]. The presence of visual disturbances pose a treatment dilemma and often portend a worse outcome in mental disorders and neurocognitive diseases [2,3]. We describe a case of Major Depressive Disorder with co-occurring vivid complex visual disturbance, and a unique approach to the management of such patient.