He sees the faces of demons... and a wrong diagnosis almost puts him in a mental institution

A rare disease that few people in the world suffer from, caused by a severe vision disorder, which causes a person to see parts of people’s faces distorted in shape, color, or position, while the rest of the body parts remain as they are in their natural shape. It is known as “prosopometamorphopsia” or “PMO.”

Victor Chara (59 years old) in the American state of Nashville is one of those people who were infected with it. The Lancet medical journal published research on his condition on Friday.

Chara tells an American news network that he woke up one winter day, to find his friend who entered his room with a strange face, and the same happened with his lover’s face, as they appeared like “devils” or “creatures in horror movies.

”He says that he sees a person's ears as pointed, and faces in general appear pointy and distorted. He added: “I tried to explain to my roommate what I was seeing, but he thought I was crazy. I went out and saw all the faces distorted, and even now it happens to me.”

He continued, "It's like staring at demons. Imagine waking up one morning, and suddenly every person in the world looks like a creature from a horror movie. "Chara helped create a two-dimensional computer image of what he saw faces on, adding that there was "much more than that."

He continued: “What people do not understand from the picture is that this distorted face that I see... moves, speaks, and makes gestures. This distances me from others. I try not to allow that to happen because I realize what I am suffering from. However, I feel that I am no longer able to get close.” From people like I used to before.”

Some people with the disease see “faces turning into dragons, fish heads, or ears emerging from the top of some people’s heads,” and some patients stated that they see “eyes emerging from the skull or third eyes in the middle of people’s foreheads.”

The lead author of the study published in the Lancet, Professor of Psychology, Brad Duchene, said that only 81 cases of PMO were present in their published references, according to a review published in June 2021, adding that it is likely that there are a much larger number of people. Those suffering from the condition.

He continued: "We have dedicated a website so that people can learn about the disease, and we have received messages from at least 80 people so far. People from all over the world are reporting the same symptoms without realizing that there are others infected with this disease."

The American network explained that a person can develop this disease after a brain injury, tumor, infection, or after seizures such as epilepsy.

The doctoral student participating in the Lancet study, Antonio Melo, said that with the limited information available, many cases suffering from PMO can be diagnosed as “suffering from schizophrenia or any other condition that causes hallucinations, and they are given antipsychotic medications.” Or even placing them in treatment institutions.”

Chara is currently working closely with laboratories and doctors, in order to mitigate the impact or treat the symptoms of the disease.

He explained that the new research represents “a means that may help save another person from misdiagnosis, by doctors who are not familiar with the rare disease,” noting that he “almost had to be admitted to a mental hospital” because of his condition.

What do you think about such rare medical cases, and do you think that people with these symptoms should be admitted to a mental hospital?

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