In 1955, English psychiatrist John Todd (1914-1987) described Alice in
Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) as self-experienced paroxysmal body image
illusions involving distortions of the size, mass, or shape of the
patient's own body or its position in space, often occurring with
depersonalization and derealization.
Todd named AIWS for the
perceptual disorder of altered body image experienced by the protagonist
in the novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), written by Lewis
Carroll (the pseudonym of Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
[1832-1898]), possibly based in part on Dodgson's own migrainous
experiences.
In the story, Alice followed a talking white rabbit down
a rabbit hole and then experienced several dramatic changes in her own
body size and shape (e.g., shrinking to 10 inches high, growing
unnaturally large, and growing unnaturally tall but not any wider).
Although Todd's report was the most influential, Lippman provided an
earlier description in 1952. In Lippman's article, one of the patients
reported feeling short and wide as she walked, and referenced Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland in regard to her body image illusions,
referring to them as a "Tweedledum" or "Tweedledee" feeling.
For the AIWS sufferer, the eye components are entirely physically
normal. The AIWS involves a change in perception as opposed to a
malfunction of the eyes themselves. The hallmark sign of AIWS is a
migraine, and AIWS may in part be caused by the migraine. AIWS affects the sufferer's sense of vision, sensation, touch, and hearing, as well as one's own body image.
A prominent and often disturbing symptom is that of altered body
image: the sufferer may find that he or she is confused as to the size
and shape of parts of (or all of) his/her body. Alice in Wonderland
syndrome involves perceptual distortions of the size or shape of
objects. Other possible causes and/or signs of association with the
syndrome are migraines, use of hallucinogenic drugs, and infectious
mononucleosis.
Also, patients with certain neurological diseases have experienced similar visual hallucinations. These hallucinations are called "Lilliputian," which means that objects appear either smaller or larger than they actually are.
Patients may experience either micropsia or macropsia. Micropsia is
an abnormal visual condition, usually occurring in the context of visual hallucination, in which affected persons see objects as being smaller than those objects actually are. Macropsia is a condition where the individual sees everything larger than it actually is.
One theory is that patients with Alice in Wonderland syndrome were
associated with infectious mononucleosis. Neuroimaging studies have not
revealed any link, and the relationship (if any) between the syndrome
and mononucleosis remains unknown.
One 17-year-old male described his odd symptoms. He said, "quite
suddenly objects appear small and distant (teliopsia) or large and close
(peliopsia). I feel as I am getting shorter and smaller "shrinking" and
also the size of persons are not longer than my index finger (a
lilliputian proportion). Sometimes I see the blind in the window or the
television getting up and down, or my leg or arm is swinging. I may hear
the voices of people quite loud and close or faint and far.
Occasionally, I experience attacks of migrainous headache associated
with eye redness, flashes of lights and a feeling of giddiness. I am
always conscious to the intangible changes in myself and my
environment."
The eyes themselves are normal, but the sufferer 'sees' objects with
the wrong size or shape or finds that perspective is incorrect. This can
mean that people, cars, buildings, etc., look smaller or larger than
they should be, or that distances look incorrect; for example a corridor
may appear to be very long, or the ground may appear too close.
The sufferer may also lose a sense of time, a problem similar to the
lack of spatial perspective. That is, time seems to pass very slowly,
akin to an LSD
experience. The lack of time, and space, perspective leads to a
distorted sense of velocity. For example, one could be inching along
ever so slowly in reality, yet it would seem as if one were sprinting
uncontrollably along a moving walkway, leading to severe, overwhelming
disorientation. This can then cause the sufferer to feel as if movement,
even within his or her own home, is futile.
In addition, some people may, in conjunction with a high fever,
experience more intense and overt hallucinations, seeing things that are
not there and misinterpreting events and situations.
Other minor or less common symptoms may include loss of limb control
and general dis-coordination, memory loss, lingering touch and sound
sensations, and emotional experiences.
Treatment is the same as that for other migraine prophylaxis: anticonvulsants, antidepressants, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers.
Chronic Alice In Wonderland Syndrome is untreatable and must wear
itself out. Rest is the prime treatment, but another effective therapy
is to join support groups to share experiences.
Read More:
Alice in Wonderland Syndrome: somesthetic vs visual perceptual disturbance | PubMed
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