Alice In Wonderland Syndrome
Alice in Wonderland syndrome is a neurological disorder that usually manifests itself in children, usually at night, and describes a set of symptoms where visual perception and body image are altered, incorrectly perceiving the size of body parts and external objects, causing disorientation and deformation of the senses.
Usually this syndrome is diagnosed in childhood, when the child may feel like the character in the story, a little lost in their dreams ; although many people generally stop experiencing symptoms in adolescence, a few experience them for the rest of their lives, especially early in their sleep period.
Alice in Wonderland syndrome can be caused by an abnormal amount of electricity in the body, which causes a change in blood flow to the brain. Thus, the signals sent from the brain to the eyes are disturbed, giving rise to hallucinations, disorientation and an altered self-image in certain parts of the body.
Another possible cause is temporal lobe epilepsy where seizures appear in the temporal lobes, which can provoke euphoric reactions, or an intense fear and paranoia.
It can also happen because of headaches, migraines, brain tumors or because of the Epstein-Barr virus, where symptoms can appear in early stages.
Alice in Wonderland Syndrome Symptoms
– The main symptom of Alice in Wonderland syndrome is an altered body image, where the affected person observes parts of the body of the wrong size, being disproportionate in relation to the head and hands.
– Another significant symptom of this syndrome is that the patient perceives the size of other objects incorrectly.
– The individual loses the sense of time, as it can pass very slowly or very quickly.
– Some people can experience strong hallucinations, can see things that are not in the surroundings and can also have wrong impressions of certain situations.
– Suffer changes in visual perception, but also in auditory and tactile perception.
proven treatment
This syndrome has a proven and effective treatment when the cause is migraine, although chronic cases are not very treatable; the manifestations of symptoms are not harmful or dangerous, and will likely disappear over time, rest being the best treatment.
Image courtesy of Brandon Christopher Warren.
