- Written By: S.E. Smith
- Edited By: Bronwyn Harris
-
Copyright Protected:
2003-2012 Conjecture Corporation
Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS) is a neurological disorder which disrupts the messages sent from the eyes to the brain, causing a corresponding distortion in visual perception. This condition can also cause strange distortions in the sense of touch and sound in the patient. Children are most commonly afflicted with AIWS, although it can set in at adulthood as well. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome can be confusing and frightening for the patient, as it can feel like he or she is going crazy in a strange, Lilliputian world with fractured vision and odd hallucinations.
This condition is also known as micropsia, a reference to the fact that objects, animals, and people often appear to shrink in the hallucinations associated with it. The term “Alice in Wonderland Syndrome” was coined in 1955, and it references the strange events in the novel of the same name by Lewis Carroll. Some researchers suspect that the condition may have affected Carroll himself, and perhaps this is why the visions in the book seem so frighteningly real to some readers.
In the most common form of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, the patient hallucinates, thinking that objects around him or her are growing or shrinking. The sense of distance may be impaired as well, with objects suddenly seeming very close, or far away. Some people also experience distortion in the perception of their body parts, thinking that various parts of them are larger or smaller than they should be.
In some cases, the sense of touch may be distorted. Sufferers from Alice in Wonderland Syndrome can think that they are sinking into the floor or passing through walls, and they may experience fractured vision which looks like a complex mosaic. Auditory hallucinations can occur as well, with sounds seeming louder, softer, closer, or further than they really are. As you might imagine, this condition can be very disorienting and sometimes scary.
Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is linked with several conditions. It is most commonly associated with migraines and severe headaches, and it can serve as a warning for the onset of a serious migraine. It has also been linked with epilepsy and the onset of mononucleosis, and with the use of some recreational drugs. Micropsia is a cause for concern because it can be a sign of an underlying medical condition, and people who suffer from it should seek medical attention. A doctor may be able to offer treatment for the cause of the condition, along with tips for dealing with the symptoms.
Related Videos
Discuss this Article
|
wavy58
Post 12 |
I have a friend who dropped acid in the sixties and experienced Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. It became his reality for several days, and he ended up in a mental institution because of it.
He said he looked into a mirror and saw his face melting off like candle wax. Animals started talking to him. People’s noses seemed overly elongated.
The acid trip went bad when he started to see his own coffin and his body lying inside. He was at his funeral, and no one could hear him shouting that he wasn’t dead.
His psychiatrist helped him out of his unreality. To this day, though, certain things trigger flashbacks, and he breaks out in a sweat. |
|
lighth0se33
Post 11 |
@ddljohn - I experience something like this when I’m dozing. The corner of the room first feels very far away, and then, it’s closer than it really is. The bed and my body grow larger, but then they shrink. If I open my eyes, it goes away.
I have never felt this while I’m awake, though. Sometimes, if I stare at the grass, I see it shifting in a circular direction in a rhythm like a clock ticking. That is the closest thing to waking hallucinations that I have.
I wonder what we are experiencing at night when things are not as they seem. It is quite disturbing, and I have trouble falling asleep when I don’t feel sturdy. |
|
kylee07drg
Post 10 |
My younger sister had this syndrome for awhile. She didn’t know it at the time, but she was about to become ill with mononucleosis.
The fever had already set in, so we attributed her crazy talk to the rise in body temperature. The cool thing is that she didn’t find her new reality frightening at all. She relished it. She told us that she felt like she was in the Alice in Wonderland movie.
My mother did take her to the doctor, who reassured her that this was somewhat normal. Basically, he told her all she could do was give her acetaminophen to control the fever.
My sister was having so much fun in her new frame of mind that she was sad when it went away. I guess it all depends on your personality type whether you find it scary or awesome. |
| Related Topics | |
|
shell4life
Post 9 |
I experienced Alice in Wonderland Syndrome before getting a really bad migraine headache once. It freaked me out pretty badly. I had a panic attack because of it.
I felt like the very foundation of physics had failed me. Everything that was accepted and true dissipated into this crazy realm where my finger was the size of my face and my house the size of a doghouse. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
I take medication now to prevent migraines. I don’t want to ever go through that weirdness again, but if I do, at least I will know that it is an actual syndrome and not just a breakdown of my brain. |
|
simrin
Post 8 |
@turkay1-- That's because some seizures cause Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. My cousin, for example, has Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and she is also suffering from Alice in Wonderland Syndrome because of it. In fact, she realizes that she is having a seizure when she either has a migraine and/or starts having the Alice in Wonderland symptoms.
She will run into things in the house because she thinks that it is really far away. Or I will be saying something right behind her and she thinks that I'm talking to her from the basement. She also says that the TV screen gets huge sometimes and then shrinks back.
These only happen during the seizure though. When she has a seizure I will see her staring at something super confused. A few minutes later, she will be like "oh, I just had a seizure." |
|
turkay1
Post 7 |
What exactly is the connection between Alice in Wonderland Syndrome and seizures? Why do some people who have this say that it only happens at the same time as their seizures? |
| Related Topics | |
|
ddljohn
Post 6 |
@EdRick-- I was thinking along the same lines!
I agree with all of you that this sounds like a scary syndrome.
I experience something similar, but only when I'm asleep, or half-asleep. As I'm falling into sleep or trying to wake up, sometimes I feel like my body is growing into a huge size, spreading and taking over everything. Sometimes it also feels like one of my limbs is getting larger and larger.
Like I said though, it only happens when I'm not fully asleep or awake and I only feel that I'm getting larger, never smaller.
I know this is not Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, it's never happened to me when I'm up and awake. I ran into this syndrome trying to find out what I have and learned that a lot of people experience similar things.
Some people have only a few Alice in Wonderland symptoms, some have all and very intensely. I've also heard that it runs in some families, and everyone in that family experiences this as a child.
I'm also wondering if what I'm experiencing and Alice in Wonderland Syndrome have the same cause. |
|
EdRick
Post 5 |
I never heard of this before! It sounds terrifying.
I've heard of other peculiar sensory conditions, though. Like synesthesia; that's the one where people smell colors or hear tastes, that kind of thing. They might perceive letters of the alphabet as having colors even if they're all printed in black ink.
I wonder if different sensory conditions like these have similar causes, or if they're just completely unrelated. |
|
SauteePan
Post 4 |
It must be really hard to suffer from this Alice in Wonderland syndrome because it is so rare and not many people really understand it.
I read that Lewis Carroll, who wrote the Alice and Wonderland book suffered from severe migraines that were associated with this Alice in Wonderland syndrome which was his inspiration for writing the book.
I never knew that this was the idea behind the book. I always thought that this was just another children's story. The strange occurrences in the book do make a lot more sense now. |
| Related Topics | |
|
manykitties2
Post 3 |
@popcorn - I think that the pictures of those suffering from Alice in Wonderland Syndrome might be a bit much for you. They make me think of survivors who have undergone some sort of mental torture.
It is really fascinating to me that the Alice in Wonderland book may have actually been based on micropsia. As a child, reading about all the strange and unusual sights was a thrill, but nowadays, thinking that someone may have lived through that, it kind of takes the fun out of the book. I don't think I'll be able to watch another Alice in Wonderland movie in quite the same way.
|
|
popcorn
Post 2 |
Alice in Wonderland Syndrome sounds like an incredibly frightening thing to have happen to you. When I was younger I always felt that being able to go on some of the wonderland adventures might be fun, but it seems like the sensation of getting too small or too big would just be downright scary.
Does anyone have any idea about whether or not Alice in Wonderland Syndrome pictures are disturbing or not?
I am thinking about running a search, and I don't want to end up disturbing myself. I can imagine that having horrible hallucinations takes a toll on the body.
|
