What does Alice in Wonderland syndrome mean?

He syndrome of Alice in Wonderland It is a clinical condition characterized by brief episodes of distortion in perception body image and the size, distance, shape or spatial relationships of objects, as well as the passage of time.

Its name refers to the similarities of these symptoms with the surreal and disconcerting experience experienced by the protagonist of the British literary classic Lewis Carrollwhere a girl falls down a rabbit hole and dives into a fantastic and absurd world.

THE Spanish Association of Pediatrics underlines that the Alice in Wonderland syndrome “It has been described in the context of migraines, epilepsy, brain injury, viral infections, and associated with drugs and medications.”

Regarding those who suffer from it, he adds: “It is more common among young people, being the children particularly susceptible. In general, your andevolution is benign, with complete recovery in weeks or months, without sequelae, although it may recur after a latency period of years.

Symptoms include visual disturbance the shape and size of objects, which can make them appear larger or smaller than usual, and the spatial situation, which causes a sort of zoom effect.

The Spanish Association of Pediatrics explains that the Alice in Wonderland syndrome It also presents “body image distortion, such as micro- and macrosomatognosia (“I see my hands big”), as well as physical or somatopsychic duality, which consists of the sensation of having two bodies.”

Other visual illusions, although rarer, are the vision of multiple images or prosopagnosia, as the inability to recognize faces is known.

As for the weather, the Alice in Wonderland syndrome It can also cause distortion in its passage, causing the person to become disoriented.

As for the effects that trigger episodes of distortion, specialists clarify that patients are aware of the illusory nature of their perceptions and can describe their experience without subsequent amnesia.

Beyond that state of consciousness, people with this condition can become frightened and Panictherefore successful treatment often includes rest and relaxation.

In most cases, it is relatively short term.

The most recent revision of the Alice in Wonderland syndrome reported that nearly half of all patients are treated successfully.

Other strange syndromes

Fregoli syndrome

It causes the person to believe that different people are, in fact, the same person who simply changes their appearance. Those who suffer from it usually feeling persecuted for those who believe to be in disguise.

The disorder gets its name Leopoldo Fregolian Italian stage actor known for his uncanny ability to rapidly change his appearance while on stage.

Cotard syndrome

Also known as “walking corpse syndrome”occurs when people have the delusional belief that they are dead and do not exist.

It is named after the 19th-century French neurologist Jules Cotard, who first described the condition in 1882.

Alien hand syndrome

It is one of the strangest neurological disorders. The person who suffers from it is convinced of it his hand does not belong to himwhich has a mind of its own and acts autonomously.

This syndrome was first identified in 1908, but was not clearly defined until the early 1970s. The term was coined by Joseph Bogen, an American neurophysiologist, to describe a curious temperamental behavior occasionally observed during recovery from certain types of brain surgery.

Ekbom syndrome

It is a tactile hallucination in which patients believe they are infected parasitesoften experienced as insects crawling under the skin.

The syndrome is named after Karl Ekbom, a Swedish neurologist who first described the condition in the late 1930s.