Have you ever heard of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome? It's apparently an incredibly rare neurological disorder. I'm pretty sure my daughter experiences it. She's been experiencing it since she was young. At first she would randomly wake up about an hour after falling asleep, upset, freaking out because the walls felt so far away but too close at the same time. She said it felt like things around her were small and she couldn't touch them. That's what first led me toward Alice in Wonderland Syndrome.
As she's gotten older she still gets random attacks but often through the day where she will say she doesn't feel like she is in her body. She doesn't feel like she's out of her body either, just that she isn't in it and she pats herself down and says it feels really weird. She can sometimes feel a little uncoordinated because she's not fully in control of her body. On her birthday she mentioned having something weird going on with her ears but didn't really elaborate. Today she said the ear thing was happening again. She described it like her ears go to sleep until someone is talking and then they wake up and things get really loud and something about how she described it made me think of the Alice in Wonderland Syndrome and just as I was saying that she said Yes! She was about to say it made her feel the same way she feels when the AWS happens. We were going to do our weekly shop and by the time we made it to the shops she was patting herself down saying she couldn't feel her body and it felt like she wasn't in her body.
It doesn't freak her out like it used to when she was younger. There are potentially a lot of causes, the most commonly thought cause is migraine aura but really, no one knows what causes it, why it happens, and there is no known treatment for it. The studies don't seem to think it's damaging unless it's being caused by a brain tumour. It never seems to last long, though longer than the literature seems to think. Perhaps with my daughter, it lasts longer. The literature also says that it may be under-diagnosed because it is a brief phenomenon usually felt in children and so they don't think to mention it. I've offered to take her to a doctor for it but she isn't interested. I'm totally fascinated though. I would love to see more research done on the phenomenon.
Perhaps that is why my daughter loves Alice in Wonderland so much. She can totally relate to Alice's experiences! Doing my lit review left me feeling a bit like Alice sometimes too though, mostly the whole falling down the rabbit hole aspect though, which is why I drew this during my research period:
I've never heard of that before. Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI’ve never heard of that before. It’s really interesting! I love your art page 😁 it reminds me of university.
ReplyDeleteWow - I'm not alone but perhaps late in experiencing these very things and more. What you have described as your daughters experiences I have been going through for the last 4 to 5 years off and on. Nothing in particular seems to trigger it and nothing in particular seems to end it. I also have my eyesight affected sometimes. I thought for a while, maybe a tumor (although I never give thoughts like that much attention) but then my husband too has experienced a few of the things like I have. We often experience similar spiritual happenings. From my own research - I believe it is signs of ascension which I blogged about. Maybe I'll share that blog again for today's challenge.
ReplyDeleteNormally it's a childhood syndrome and people grow out of it but adults also experience it. Being my daughter is 15 and just had an attack a couple days ago I wonder if she will continue to experience it into adulthood. A brain tumour has been suggested as a possible in what I've read about it but as a general rule the literature says it's not dangerous. Could just be a migraine or anxiety etc but all that literature comes from Muggles living in a very Muggle world who may not have looked at more spiritual causes.
DeleteAlso calling it Alice in Wonderland Syndrome fits it perfectly and I too love Alice in Wonderland and find myself drawn to all things relating to the story.
ReplyDeleteOh what a fascinating syndrome but I imagine extremely disconcerting too. I admire how your daughter handles it. Love your art...you've captured the confusion and fear, possible wonderment, on Alice's face so well. <3
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of this before either. Could it have to do with being very sensitive and intuitive?
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is quite sensitive and intuitive so maybe. I think it flares most for her when she's under extra stress.
DeleteI don't want to sit on a plinth here and say 'how interesting', but seriously, how interesting. Occasionally, I have the experience of feeling like I'm merely the 'car' and someone else is sitting in the back of my head, driving, or rather, looking out through my eyes. I came across literature that said it was dissociation. I dunno. I used to think it was aliens who were using me as a means for observing life on Earth. I'm not sure which is more disturbing.
ReplyDeleteBtw, interesting that Alice has Dorothy's red shoes.
I imagine what you have described as being similar to how channel's feel when they are channeling information.
DeleteNot a single other person has noticed Dorothy's ruby slippers ;) I flip between metaphors of Dorothy and Alice and whenever I use the Alice one I feel like I'm cheating on Dorothy because she is my first love LOL So I tend to creep her in there lol
I saw the ruby slippers... - that spot of white really makes them pop! Great page! Good luck with your research!
ReplyDeleteBut what an interesting if worrying syndrome. Nevery heard of it before.