Bernadette Glass said her "biggest fear" was not being believed when she started having visual hallucinations three years ago.

The 74-year-old retiree lives with glaucoma and said she saw disembodied faces, dogs and people in military uniform in her home.

"It wasn't in the least bit frightening," she said.

"I knew deep down that whatever I was going through, it was not a psychiatric illness."

Ms Glass said she was "too frightened" to tell her GP, and after six months of searching for answers online, she self-diagnosed with Charles Bonnet Syndrome.

When she talked to her ophthalmologist about the condition, she said she was dismissed.

"All he says to me is, 'It's a very rare condition,' and that was it," she said.

"There isn't much in the way of education that was given to me, so you

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