What is Alice in Wonderland Syndrome?
Todd’s Syndrome, more commonly referred to as Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS), is a neurological disorder that causes a person to experience hallucinations and perception distortions; this can include, but is not limited to, visual perception distortions and distortions in hearing. These hallucinations and distortions of perception can lead to disorientation and a misperception of reality.
This condition is very rare and seems to affect children more so than adults. Most children who suffer from the disease will usually outgrow the condition as they enter adolescence. Although it is possible for a person to continue having this condition, and even develop it, as an adult; this, however, is less likely to happen. It is also a possibility that AIWS occurs more often in adults but due to a number of circumstances, like not reporting symptoms or there not being many studies of AIWS, it is difficult to know more concrete data on the subject.
Causes
So what exactly causes AIWS? The answer is that sadly no one really knows because there have only been a few studies on AIWS. Those few studies have shown that those suffering from AIWS have excessive electrical activity in their brain which could be caused by an increase of blood flow to the brain. However there is some proof that this neurological disorder is hereditary. Parents of children who have been diagnosed with having AIWS say that they themselves remember experiencing symptoms, like feeling as though the pieces of furniture around them were shrinking or the walls were moving, but they didn't say anything because they didn't feel comfortable about their symptoms and what they were going through. Although other probable causes for AIWS include migraines, temporal lobe epilepsy, delirium tremens, brain tumors, and the Epstein-Barr virus [this is the virus causes infectious mononucleosis which is also commonly referred to as mono]. Certain drugs, like some cough syrups and LSD, can also cause AIWS. According to the article, The Elusive Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, Dr. Grant Liu – a pediatrician at Philadelphia’s Children’s Hospital – also conducted a study on 48 children who suffered from AIWS. His findings showed that “about one-third of the cases arose from some kind of infection, six percent were caused by trauma to the head, and half the cases had an undetermined reason for occurring." In my search for answers for AIWS, Dr. Liu seems to be one of the few who is doing research on this specific condition.
Fun facts about Alice in Wonderland Syndrome down below
Lewis Carroll (Left) was said to have suffered from Alice in Wonderland Syndrome as he wrote his famous novel. He kept a journal where he stated that he would often suffer from migraines, which is a symptom and a cause of AIWS. He was also able to perfectly describe what an AIWS episode felt like by describing the oddness that Alice perceived as things suddenly grew or would suddenly shrink.