Alice In Wonderland Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms And Therapy
If our senses rarely deceive us, it is, among other things, because in our brain there are a large number of structures that work at the same time to have a realistic image of the world around us.
Alice in Wonderland syndrome It is proof of what happens when these processes begin to become uncoordinated.
It is about a very rare neurological disorder in which visual perception is alteredseeing things of a size that does not correspond to reality.
Thus, it may happen that the person sees an object as if it were much smaller than it is, or that a giant is created among miniaturized elements, or that the opposite occurs and notices how elements of the environment or their own body are smaller than normal.
Specifically, it is very common that the visual hallucinations that appear with this syndrome have to do with the way in which the parts of one’s own body are perceived.
Symptoms of this perception problem
In some cases, Alice in Wonderland Syndrome It can be expressed in micropsia, while in others it is expressed in the form of macropsia.
1. Micropsy
In micropsia, everything appears to be significantly smaller than it really is.
2. Macropsia
In this case, the opposite of what defines micropsia occurs: elements of the body or the environment are visualized in a deformed way, as if they were much larger than expected.
The two previous phenomena mean that one does not know how to determine very well how far an object, animal or person is from oneself, 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 to appear at nightwhen there is little light and when one is about to fall into a dream state (something that is also common in other forms of hallucinations).
Furthermore, in some cases Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is accompanied by loss of track 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 deceptions are accompanied by tactile or auditory hallucinations.
Where does the name of this disorder come from?
Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is named after the famous novel by Lewis Carroll, whose protagonist experienced this phenomenon under the influence of the magic that surrounded the region he was exploring.
These parts of the narrative They 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 notable 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, furthermore, The brain of each human being is something unique and very adapted to the life of each person..
This means that it can be caused by various types of injuries or alterations in the functioning of the body, whether chronic or specific. For example, problems with blood circulation through the brain could cause your symptoms.
On the other hand, certain injuries and diseases, such as the Epstein-Barr virus, can produce this symptomatic conditionsince to do this you only have 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. After 30 years of age 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 the symptoms. Sometimes, better rest and sleep will be enough for the symptoms to subside.while in others chronic neurological diseases and disorders must be treated.
In any case, any form of intervention on Alice in Wonderland Syndrome must be proposed and supervised by a health specialist sufficiently accredited for this and trained in mental health and neurology.
Likewise, the prognosis of this syndrome is very variable.and it depends on what its causes are and how easy it is to intervene on them to solve the problem.
