# Alice In Wonderland Syndrome



## Guest (Feb 16, 2012)

> Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS or AWS) describes a set of symptoms, the most famous of which are:
> 
> 
> Alteration of body image: the sizes of parts of the body are perceived incorrectly.
> ...


My Derealization symptoms sometime remind me of the symptoms associated with AIWS, like the depth perception issues I get from DR, feeling like I'm hallucinating reality (sights, sounds, smells, and touch all seem dreamy and/or confusing or distant). Sometimes, I will stare at my hands and feet and swear they've either gotten bigger or smaller, and times I will look at myself in the mirror, and feel unfamiliar with myself. The same goes for the way I perceive others. The symptoms aren't constant or consistent, when the DR goes away everything is normal again.

Alice In Wonderland Syndrome


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2012)

ive always wondered if i had this because things seem either smaller or bigger than they really are but i think it plays in with my hppd.


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

i think that syndrome, it's much much more pronounced, there's no question that things look teeny tiny or huge....with dp it's more of a sense of things being smaller not a hey look evreything's 2 inches tall kind of thing.....


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2012)

I also experience this, and have as a adult, and as recently as say 5 months ago. It doesn't last long, but it is like deja-vu, jamais-vu, etc.

I am firmly convinced that this is another example of how DP/DR are clearly perceptual distortions VERY MUCH like deja-vu.

Also, again, I have NEVER had a rec drug save small amounts of alcohol.

I also have a mentally healthy friend who has experienced AWIS. I was trying to explain DP, and she mentioned that when walking her dog in a wide open field she felt very small, but this didn't frighten her anymore than transient deja-vu.

I do not see this as a defense mechanism, unless you look at it as an extreme fight/flight experience. However I talked at length with my psychiatrist and HIS experience of fight/flight and DP/DR were SLIGHTLY different and of course transient. Fight/flight in its POSITIVE form FOCUS's your mind on a "life-saving" task at hand more often than not. If the situation is extreme I think those of us prone to dissociate more easily than others, the symptoms are worse and become chronic.

And as I say SO many times ... DP/DR is KNOWN by neurologists who see this in stroke, migraine, epilepsy, head trauma, etc. Mentally healthy people who have had injury to their grey matter. And individuals with other mental illnesses describe DP/DR, and it can often be treated even if the main illness still exists.

I see it as a brain glitch ... bad software, bad hardware. But yet far more complicated than that.
I've had this too long. It feels like a neurological disorder and the distortion of the world and the distortions of my body are too extreme to serve any purpose. I get no "help" from DP/DR. My quality of life is horrible with it. And I still have emotions -- I can cry, laugh sometimes, but there is little joy in my life. And I recall all of the abuse I had as a child.

THIS IS JUST MY STORY AND MY OPINION.

And AIWS is NOT DP/DR, though it can occur WITH DP/DR as can deja-vu, etc. There is a reason these things are classified separately.


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