Chronic Birding Syndrome….

Office Visit Notes: “Patient presented with periodic bouts of euphoria over sightings of various bird species with intermittent episodes of depression marked by anxiety during lulls in bird activity.  Patient noted there have been frequent late night awakenings upon hearing night birds (pauraques, great-horned owls, screech owls, barn owls, golden-crowned night herons etc.) with the need to go outside and sit on the porch listening to the bird calls.  Patient also noted an obsession to look frequently out of windows at bird feeders and watering stations fearing that a bird might be missed and thus not observed.  Patient also admits to having binoculars and bird books strategically placed around the house and within easy reach….”

The new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) has decided to omit the diagnosis of Chronic Birding Syndrome (CBS) after a number of prominent health care professionals suggested the diagnosis could possibly glut the system and cause significant embarrassments within the medical community who themselves have a sizeable number of CBS sufferers.  First diagnosed by Dr. Cedric Warbler in 1959 the condition previously known as Birding Psychosis was later renamed Chronic Birding Syndrome because not all those presenting with the disorder are apt to experience hallucinations (both auditory and visual) relating to phantom bird sightings.  In one nationally reported “mass birding psychotic event” a number of birders experienced what is known medically as “reincarnated ideational expungement” resulting in severe CBS development.  Professors Bertha Gull, Jay Swift and Mary Alice Plover at the Columbia University Ornithological Institute noted that ongoing research suggests the condition is worsening amongst certain populations and further research is warranted.

For more information please contact The National CBS Center at 800-GotToBird