• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • First Impressions - The Game
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Woman living with Alice in Wonderland syndrome shows terrifying thing she sees through her eyes

Home> Community

Published 18:04 7 Nov 2023 GMT

Woman living with Alice in Wonderland syndrome shows terrifying thing she sees through her eyes

She's opened up about what it's like to live with the rare disorder

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A woman living with Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) has opened up about life with the rare condition.

The rare neurological disorder is characterised by an unusual set of symptoms, which alter the perception of those living with them.

A 2014 medical paper, explains: “An alteration of visual perception is found in that way that the sizes of body parts or sizes of external objects are perceived incorrectly. The most common perceptions are at night.”

Advert

She opened up about the rare condition.
YouTube/Demystifying Medicine McMaster

The condition’s unusual name comes from the character titular character from from Lewis Carroll’s 1865 book Alice in Wonderland - those who have read the book, or seen the movies based upon it, may remember that poor Alice kept growing and shrinking as she made her way through Wonderland; an effect that is not entirely dissimilar to the misperceptions those with AIWS experience.

One woman living with AIWS took to YouTube channel Demystifying Medicine McMaster where she opened up about the condition, sharing that she began to experience symptoms when she was in the first grade.

She explained: “I remember my teacher, she was getting bigger in my eyes. I told her that and I believe she took it the wrong way and ended up giving me a time out.

She shared a clip showing how she sees the world.
YouTube/Demystifying Medicine McMaster

Advert

"Instances like this kept happening to me over time, and I also remember getting abnormal headaches and migraines as a child.”

After questioning if it was normal for someone so young to get migraines so frequently, she was told by a doctor that the mean age for the onset of symptoms for those with AIWS was just eight-and-half-years-old.

She was eight when she was diagnosed, but pointed out that it can be ‘easily misdiagnosed’ as it is a complex condition.

The camera then cuts to an edited video which attempts to show how she sees things, in which a rubbish bin grows in size and someone appears to grow in height in front of her eyes.

“It impedes my social interactions with many individuals,” the woman went on.

“Many of the symptoms that we experience include; the inability or strongly diminished ability to perceive colour.

Advert

“The next one is lines and contours appear to be wavy. And the most common of these symptoms is distortion of seeing things smaller or larger than they normally are. What all of these symptoms have in common is that they constitute distortions of sensory perception, rather than hallucinations or illusions."

The woman goes on to explain that the duration of these symptoms differs between those who have the condition - from just a few minutes to ‘days’.

Discussing treatments for AIWS, she explained that it depended on the individuals, but that in her case she was mostly treated for the severe migraines rather than her issues with sensory perceptions.

Featured Image Credit: Demystifying Medicine McMaster / Walt Disney Studios

Topics: Health

Claire Reid
Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Woman living with inflammatory bowel disease explains 'hardest thing' about having condition
  • Woman explains how she pees through her belly button after devastating car accident paralysed her
  • Woman lost all her limbs after 'normal' thing she did when walking into her house
  • 'Hardest thing' woman had to learn after 'normal' thing she did left her needing quadruple amputation

Choose your content:

2 days ago
3 days ago
  • 2 days ago

    Woman left spine chilling message about what she saw after being 'dead' for 27 minutes

    US woman Tina Hines had a creepy message for her family after being clinically dead for 27 minutes

    Community
  • 2 days ago

    Gen Z issues warning to anyone that uses ‘smiley face’ emoji which could have very different meaning

    Your friendly work emails might not be so friendly

    Community
  • 3 days ago

    Partner of man feared brain dead after food poisoning 'from £3 supermarket sandwich' issues urgent warning

    He suffered a stroke following a major outbreak that impacted UK supermarkets

    Community
  • 3 days ago

    Woman who quit smoking and began vaping to be healthier ‘left on her death bed’ one year later

    She was vaping '24/7' before being told she has to sleep sat up 'or die'

    Community