The condition makes people see things out of proportion

Jul 7, 2015 07:39 GMT  ·  By
Psychedelics can cause Alice in Wonderland Syndrome symptoms, make people see things out of proportion
   Psychedelics can cause Alice in Wonderland Syndrome symptoms, make people see things out of proportion

In a recent report in the Israel Journal of Psychiatry, a team of medical experts detail the case of a 26-year-old man who, every once in a while, would start seeing things out of proportion despite not being sick or under the influence of any kind of hallucinogenic substances.

During such episodes, the man would not only see objects either much bigger or much smaller than they really were, but would also perceive them as nearer or further away than where they were in fact positioned.

Given the particularities of his hallucinations, the 26-year-old patient was diagnosed with Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. The bizarre condition, otherwise known as dysmetropsia, is described by scientists as a neurological disorder that affects and upsets perception.

Named after Lewis Carroll's 1865 children's novel “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,” the Alice in Wonderland Syndrome has been shown to correlate with intense migraines, brain tumors and the use of psychoactives.

Except it can sometimes manifest for no good reason

What's interesting about the Alice in Wonderland Syndrome sufferer whose case is described by his doctors in the Israel Journal of Psychiatry is that the man would experience hallucinations and see things out of proportion even when not under the influence of mind-altering substances.

True, the man had a history of alcohol, marijuana and LSD use, but at the time when he reached out to doctors for help, he was clean. He admitted to having experienced Alice in Wonderland Syndrome symptoms while on LSD, but couldn't understand why the hallucinations persisted even after he quit.

“To the best of our knowledge this is the first reported care of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome which persisted after LSD interruption in the professional literature,” the specialists who handled this case write in their report in the Israel Journal of Psychiatry.

It is unclear why the man went on to experience visual hallucinations even when no longer under the influence of LSD. The best explanation his doctors could come up with was acid flashback, i.e. re-occurrence of an LSD-like state for a while after the drug's effects should have worn off.

When the 26-year-old patient refused medical treatment for his hallucinations, his psychiatrists referred him to therapy. About a year later, he reported no longer experiencing any of the hallucinations that made him seek medical help to begin with.