Alice in Wonderland Syndrome

If our senses rarely deceive us, it is, among other things, because in our brain there is a large number of structures that work at the same time to have a realistic image of the world that we surrounds.

Alice in Wonderland syndrome it is a test of what happens when these processes start to become uncoordinated.

What is Alice in Wonderland syndrome?

Is about a very rare neurological disorder in which visual perception is impaired, seeing things of a size that does not correspond to reality.

Thus, it can happen that the person sees an object as if it were much smaller than it is, or that a giant is created between miniaturized elements, or the opposite happens and notice how elements of the environment or of your own body are smaller than normal.

In particular, it is very common that the visual hallucinations that appear with this syndrome have to do with the way in which the parts of the body are perceived.

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Symptoms of this perception problem

In some cases, Alice in Wonderland Syndrome can be expressed in micropsia, while in others it is expressed in the form of macropsia.

Micropsy

On micropsy, everything appears to be significantly smaller than it actually is.

Macropsia

In this case, the opposite of what is defined by micropsy occurs: elements of the body or the environment are visualized in a deformed way, as if they were much larger than expected.

Other symptoms

The two previous phenomena make it difficult to determine very well how far from oneself is an object, animal or person, which produces disorientation, anxiety and a feeling of vulnerability.

These visual hallucinations do not usually last indefinitely, and disappear after a few minutes. On the other hand, they are more common at night, when there is little light and when you are about to fall into a dream state (something that is also common in other forms of hallucinations).

In addition, in some cases the Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is accompanied by loss of notion of time and / or hallucinations about objects, animals, objects or people that are not really in sight, which aggravates the feeling of disorientation. Sometimes all these visual delusions are accompanied by tactile or auditory hallucinations.

• Related article: "Hallucinations: definition, causes, and symptoms"

Where does the name of this disorder come from?

The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome gets its name from the famous novel by Lewis Carroll, whose protagonist experienced this phenomenon under the influence of magic that surrounded the region that was exploring.

These parts of the narrative were inspired by the experiences of Lewis Carroll himself, who had this syndrome. However, the symptoms of this alteration are not as stimulating as they were in his literary work, and they produce considerable discomfort.

Causes

Like any neurological disorder, Lycia Syndrome in Wonderland does not have very well-known causes, since it is influenced by many things and, in addition, the brain of each human being is something unique and very adapted to the life of each person.

That means that it can be caused by various types of injuries or alterations in the functioning of the body, either chronic or punctual. For example, problems with blood circulation through the brain could lead to your symptoms.

On the other hand, certain injuries and illnesses, such as the Epstein-Barr virus, can produce this symptomatic picture, since for this it is only necessary to make the functioning of certain groups of neurons begin to change in a way not foreseen by evolution.

Who experiences it?

Alice in Wonderland Syndrome it is much more common during childhood and adolescence. From the age of 30 it is much rarer and, in any case, it could appear as a result of brain injuries.

Treatment

After the diagnosis of this syndrome has been made, a treatment is established that will depend on each case and the causes related to the appearance of symptoms. Sometimes better rest and sleep will be enough for symptoms to subside, while in others it is necessary to treat chronic neurological diseases and disorders.

In any case, any form of intervention on Alice in Wonderland Syndrome must be proposed. and supervised by a sufficiently accredited health specialist and trained in mental health and neurology.

Similarly, the prognosis of this syndrome is highly variable., and it depends on what its causes are and how easy it is to intervene on them to solve the problem.