Even though Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) was named after the famous fairy tale, it is anything but magical. AIWS affects the way that people perceive reality, there are over 40 types of visual distortions attached to this disorder. Alice in Wonderland syndrome is most commonly diagnosed in people under the age of 18, but it can also be found in anyone with certain conditions related to the brain. AIWS is a rare condition, but that is partly because there is limited research on how often it occurs. Some information shows that 30% of teenagers experience brief episodes of this disorder. The main reason why there is so little research about AIWS is that this condition is almost always short-lived. Due to the lack of information known about this disease, experts do not know exactly why AIWS occurs; despite that there are many circumstances that might cause it.
Some of the conditions in which this disease can take place include
Migraines: the most common way AIWS will occur, it can also happen with cluster headaches and abdominal migraines
Infections: Epstein-Barr virus, certain strains of influenza, varicella (which causes chickenpox and shingles), Lyme disease, typhoid fever, and scarlet fever
Seizures: any seizure related conditions, but especially epilepsy
Strokes: only certain types of strokes, sudden loss of blood flow to the brain
Mental health related conditions: depressive disorders, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, etc
Brain tumors: mainly cancer related
These are only some of the potential conditions in which AIWS can occur. As for symptoms, it can be broken down into two categories: self-perception symptoms and visual perception symptoms. Some self-perception symptoms include changes in how you perceive your body, derealization (dissociation), depersonalization, somatopsychic duality (the feeling of being split in two vertically), disruption in sense of time. As you can see, self-perception symptoms are all related to the patient’s body in some way. Visual perception symptoms all have to do with the way the patient perceives the world around them. Some of these symptoms include changes in object size, changes in the distance of objects, changes in both size and distance at the same time, people appearing smaller than they actually are, and changes in object appearance ( straight lines can appear squiggly, vertical and horizontal lines can appear skewed, etc). Due to all of these symptoms this disease can be quite difficult to diagnose. In most cases, AIWS will go away after the underlying condition is cured.
There are four main types of tests that are done to help diagnose AIWS, these tests include imaging, spinal tap, electroencephalogram (EEG), and visual evoked potentials. These are the standard procedures done to help diagnose an issue with the brain. Alice in Wonderland syndrome is a fascinating disorder that is still very unknown. Luckily AIWS had only been known to last for short periods of time, but it could evolve to be long term. There has been a growing interest in AIWS, researchers have been working hard to try and figure out this complex disease.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7701374/ Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board
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