As a kid I would have recurring nightmares; my room would feel enormous - like a giant school hall, and my bed would feel vast while I would feel incredibly small. I would wake up and be in terror as the spatial perception would stay with me for several minutes. As an adolescent and adult I realised I could trigger the auditory hallucination associated it with by listening to repetitive music (from games). Everything would sound like it was moving too quickly but at the same time time felt much slower. It used to scare me but now I find it fascinating. I’m now 30 and on two occasions in the last year I have been in bed and felt the need to reach out to my partner while having the spatial awareness that she felt 30 feet away from me while lying in bed. Not as scary any more as I understand what it is!

Sometimes i have this feelings before sleep, but i've found them so pleasant. It's like free dissociative mini-trip). Usually it's not connected with headache, but i suffer from often headaches.

I had this constantly when I was a child. probably ages 8-18.. Whenever I have an episode, everything becomes so overwhelmingly large and tiny (as a grain of sand) at the same time including my body. Every object seems so close and so far, the walls around me are sooo smooth yet sooo rough, every sounds I hear are like whispery calm yet thundery loud, and the time feels so slow and so fast at the same time. It's a literally a nightmare experiencing this as a child and I remember feeling so helpless cause I didn't even know how to explain it to anyone😢

The worst thing about this, is when you feel like your hands are massive or when you have something small in your hands and it’s feels way bigger 😩 anyone else feel like they’re going to die when going through this! It’s so scary !!!!

I'm shook. I never knew I had this until now. I always thought I experienced this alone! My parents never knew what to do. I'd cry so hard, especially at night! I would panic and feel like I was being chased as well. I'm 31 and just found out I'm autistic too. My parents took me to the doctor for all of my "tics" (stims) and issues like the migranes, and they literally just told my parents I slept on too many pillows 😑 mental health awareness has come a long way sense I was going through the motions as a growing kid/young adult.

I always had this when I was younger. I didn’t have it for a while and over the last few months I’ve had it two or three times, I’m having one now. I kind of enjoy it 😂 but it’s a little freaky, for me everything just gets much further away. I get a buzzing sounds too. Big up the AIWLS squad

Excellent video. I’m 46 now but this ‘syndrome’ had a a hugely negative effect on my exams as a youngster. The ticking of a clock in in a silent room would begin to put emphasis on other sounds that would otherwise carrry little interest. Distance and size of font on exam papers became impossible to shrink or mould back to a size I could deal with. Meanwhile the tick tick of the clock would clunk and clack in the background. I’ve not experienced this for 15 years or so and i’ve Always been told one grows out of it. My father also had it so it must be hereditary. All I can say is the experience lessons as you grow older. My way to deal with it was to turn the radio on and sing along to a song that you know. That seemed to pull all my senses to one place and bring the whole thing back together. I do sympathise but it will go away. Good luck, folks.x

Thank you very much for the informational content! Spreading awareness for lesser-known disorders like this is extremely important and highly appreciated!

It’s so lovely to read all these comments, since I was very young I thought I was alone in all of this, I thought I was super weird and crazy therefore I’ve never spoke about it.

Wow, this has brought back memories from my early childhood. I always thought it was nothing to worry about but at night while laying in my bed, I would look around my room and suddenly the walls would zoom away from me and I would feel tiny. But by looking at the farthest away upper corner of my room, where two walls and the ceiling meet, right at the corner point, eventually everything would zoom back in. I remember being amused by it. I would try to control it, by concentrating on that corner point. I got to where I could make it go out and back, out and back, at will. As I got older it happened less and less until it was rarely happening at all. When I was 14 I had an accident while playing in elevated fort in my backyard. I accidentally fell through the trap door in the floor of the fort. The back of my head hitting every wooden rung on the access ladder as I fell. Ended up with a big knot on the back of my head and I never experienced the syndrome ever again. However, while running long distance track in high school, I experienced the runners high for the first time . It scared me to death because it felt a lot like the syndrome. it's like a pleasurable disconnect from your body where you seem to be running much faster than you are and you can't feel your feet hitting the ground. Distances and colors can be skewed for some during a runners high. I don't know if this information will help anyone, but I'm putting it out there just in case.

I’ve had AIWS since I was a child, and honestly it is not that bad (for me.) I have very sporadic episodes that last about 15-20 minutes, in which things move and feel EXTREMELY fast and sounds are EXTREMELY loud - unpleasantly so, as if everything is being done through a rage explosion. I’ve also noticed recently that objects (if I’m holding my phone, for instance) feel heavier than they normally do. Only a couple days ago I decided to look it up and discovered that this weird sensation I had been having since a little kid was an actual condition. I remember many times in high school when I would have it in the middle of an exam - it felt as if all my thoughts were yelling and talking really fast, and I would write with (what for me was) such velocity that it sounded like I would destroy my pen. But somehow I also knew that these things weren’t happening in real life - something inside of me would know that, in spite of feeling movements, thoughts and sounds in an extremely aggressive way (that’s the best word I can find to describe it), that was not how things were actually behaving.

i have a very rare part of the condition where everything starts to speed up and look like it’s going rlly fast when in reality it’s going normal speed. nobody believes me so i’m scared to tell my parents bc nobody would understand and my parents wouldn’t believe me. i’ve had many major episodes and some that i were able to control b4 they got bad. the bet thing to do is just take a couple of deep breaths and try to let it wear off and reassure yourself that everything is okay and that u will be fine. it’s so scary to me when i have an episode. it’s so hard to explain, but the best i can explain it is like say during an episode i was waving my hand in front of myself. well to other ppl my hand would be moving at a normal pace. but to me, my hand is moving rlly rlly fast and everything starts moving rlly fast the whole world just gets super scary and chaotic. and then right after the episode i have a rlly bad throbbing migraine and that feeling that i have constant move. usually my episodes happen when i’m doing something super slow, which is weird bc my episodes are super fast. in example , if i talk to slow then i will feel like i’m holding something back (it’s hard to explain) and then i will get super scared and have an episode. or if i’m walking too slow or listening to slow noises or liked slow music. i know not a lot of ppl have this part of the syndrome but i hope everyone who has it will feel better soon and hopefully stop having episodes! :) (edited) - hey guys!! i just found out that what i have is not AIWS. it’s actually closely related to it though. it is called “ tachysensia” . it’s a rare neurological brain disorder. it’s a bit more rare than AIWS and since not many ppl have it, there is not a lot of information abt it. this means there are not a lot of research done on it or basically any videos, or even articles abt tackysensia on the internet. i hope u have a wonderful day/night!:))

Your enunciation and method of explanations are SO clear. Thank you sm 🙏

I have this to and how I found out was a whole episode that happens and I can’t even look at a persons face or else it goes big and small

I'm 99% sure my 9 year old has this. It started about a year ago. He'd wake up in a panic saying his head hurt and that everything was "zooming in and out". We thought it was night terrors at first. It was so scary. He would be shaking and sweating and crying saying "Help me! Make it stop! I don't like this!" I felt and still feel so helpless. It had been about 6 months since he had the last one. Now he has a cold and I think it triggered it again because he's had these episodes 2 nights in a row now. Dr ordered a ct scan and everything came back normal. When it happens, I just hold him close and tell him it's ok and it'll pass soon and I'm right here.

I used to have this as a kid, usually during night terrors. I still experiencing this now but very rarely (4-6 times a year), mostly when I'm about to sleep, I feel like the room is way too big or way too small, it usually don't last very long.

I feel so thankful there are other people suffering with this. I thought I was just imagining it all until I went to my doctor:/

Hello! I would like to say how comfortable this made me about AIWS from someone who has experience with it myself. Since it is a lesser known condition I've felt a bit uncomfortable with dealing with it. We assume it was caused by my epilepsy currently. Thank you for making this informative video about it and spreading awareness. It's interesting to find other people who have experienced it before as well. I hope it helps a lot of people in the future. Have a pleasant time of reading this!

Thanks so much for giving your experiences. I'm actually researching Alice in Wonderland Syndrome for school and this helped a lot. 😊

man I still have it, I have learned how to handle it now. Just dont panic and fear it and it will pass

I have alice in wonderland syndrom. Im so glad i have someone to relate too! Thanks for making these videos!!

I'm actually going to (finally) be beginning the process of getting this diagnosed this month. It's something, or at least I have something similar, since I was a kid. I can vividly remember the first time it happened because I was around 6 or so years old and was in my mom's room when suddenly the bed got bigger and bigger and bigger. I felt really dizzy because of how weird I was moving. I'd move my hand and it'd look like it was in slow motion, but it'd feel like it was going super fast. I remember being very scared and not really having any idea what was happening and when it finally ended I didn't go to my mom because I figured she'd just brush it off. Though funnily enough, as an adult discussing it with her she says she experiences something very similar to what I experience, but the key difference between us is that I don't experience any pain when it occurs. In fact I've never had a "normal" migraine. I did have an ocular migraine a couple of months back, but nothing like a traditional migraine. I just had the experience happen again a few moments ago and, while it didn't hurt, it did feel like my brain wanted to jump out of my mouth and like I was going to throw up because of the very sudden shift in how my momentum felt. Even just turning my head felt weird, which I by now recognize as (what I assume is) Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, but yeah. I've noticed three very specific things trigger it, one of which I only just now discovered. The first and most common is reading books. For some reason text on books specifically will trigger it within 10-20 minutes, sometimes sooner. I'll lower the book and suddenly it's just... happening. I can usually tell when it's happening before lowering the book too because the words will start to shift a bit. The second is a lot more mild, but sometimes specific videos or gifs will trigger it. Usually it's because they mimic that sort of movement distortion, like they're playing at 30 or so frames, but there's still a bit of a slowness to it despite its fluidity (note that slow motion does not trigger it). The third and the one I most recently discovered (about 40 minutes ago) is from the game Cruelty Squad when my friend sent a very specific image. It was mostly silhouetted, but there was a visible horizon and a shifting eye like it had been smeared at the top left of the screen. Weirdly, it wasn't the eye that triggered it, but the way the roof looked. I don't really know how to describe it, other than it was a silhouetted roof, but it immediately and violently triggered this effect (I'm almost hesitant to call it AiWLS at this point just because it hasn't been diagnosed and I don't wanna be rude). I saved the image so I could show it to my doctor and look at it when the diagnosis comes up since, as I said, it instantly triggered it. There was no delay like there is with reading. I know this message is... very long, but I wanted to share this with you partly to get your thoughts on it and partly just to vent to a video that I can strongly relate to.

I'm so glad that I came upon this video and I am glad I can relate. I don't see AIWS talked about a lot so this was an incredible find. I've had AIWS since I was in preschool but because I was so young then, I developed a trauma that lead to megalophobia and microphobia... My parents never knew what to do and thought I had massive brain damage. I still have AIWS til this day and I really don't know what do with it. It affects my day to day life and it terrifies me to the point where I cannot go to sleep at night.

You are so fortunate to have been diagnosed. I only found the name of this about 10 years ago. I had this back in the late 50's and early 60's starting when I was about 5 and ended when I was about 10 or 12. In my family dynamics, I could not tell anyone as I would not have been believed or I would have been punished or told I was imagining things. During that time, in the 60's, it would have been a moot point as the discussion was in it's infancy. As an adult, I also had Mal De Debarquement Syndrome which lasted through menopause, this is where you continue to rock after getting off of a boat (4 day cruise I had 3 months of rocking). Now at 65 I have aura migrains without pain. Here's praying my head doesn't explode!

Thank you for the explanation. Was very insightful.

I'm 26 and have always had this all my life. Though it would only happen for about 5 minutes at a time, either when im tired or really focusing on something. I've never looked it up nor tried to find out what it is, because when i was a child, nobody(including my family) ever believed that it was actually happening and thought i was lying. I don't think it's something i need to worry about, as I've lived with it fine for 20 years. But glad to associate a name to the symptom:)

Vaya, esto tiene nombre !!! Cuando era niña y sufria estas crisis corria a la cama para encontrar refugio en mi mamá. Pero era muy dificil.explicarle lo que sentia . Entraba en pánico por esa distorsion en mi cuerpo, sentia que mi lengua era miy suave y despues áspera, y que se agrandaba y no cabía en mi boca. Mis manos se volvian enormes y pesadas y el tiempo transcurria demasiado lento. Tambien recuerdo que a los 16 años estaba en la escuela y empece a ver como mi profesor estaba cada vez mas lejos y su voz ya no era clara para mi. Fue una sensacion horrible, queria levantarme y salir de ahí. Ya tengo 48 años y crei que esas experiencias no se repetirian, pero justo anoche me volvió a pasar. Y encontré tu video . Saber que otros lo han superado es un alivio y esperanza para mi.

My family thought this was some type of Paranormal Stuff, cause i got weirded out when i heard sounds, and seeing stuff becoming Bigger, or Smaller.

I have had this for 6 years 🥺

It feels amazing to know that others have this syndrome as well. My symptoms are that sound is a lot louder then normal, and that time feels, sounds, and looks faster than normal. It felt so strange when it first started happening but with my whole life ahead I eventually got used to it. I'd love to talk to others with similar symptoms!

Wow this is crazy I'm 35 years old and I googled this last night. When I was a kid this used to happen to me quite often. I would experience time dilation, like everything was moving super fast and all sounds were really loud. I have this memory of my dad yelling at me and his head shrinking three times in size lol. It still happens from time to time, but now that I'm older I seem to be able to resist it and honestly it never did last very long. It's kind of comforting to know that I'm not alone and I'm not having a seizure or something🤔

I had forgotten that I had this when I was younger. Haven't had an experience with it for about 10 years. Then my young son described symptoms he was experiencing and that's when I remembered. I didn't even know there was a name for this until about 10 years ago. My mom had it as well, but didn't tell me about it until I was an adult and no longer experiencing the symptoms. For me it was always much like looking backward through binoculars. Just so weird! Pretty exciting to find others who have experienced this. Thanks for making the video.

When I was very little, I would often be laying in my bed as I was trying to fall asleep, and suddenly the room would seem larger, the TV would look like it's much farther away, and I would feel smaller. I would hear loud whispering voices in my head too. it was freaky. sometimes it would happen if I was sick with a fever. I rarely experience that as an adult.

I had these symptoms from childhood into adulthood but I was diagnosed with Depersonalization Disorder. Treatment for that and for my migraines has helped almost eliminate those symptoms. So I would agree that some disorders mimic this. Cool video! Thanks for making it.

So for as long as I can remember I’ve had these symptoms but never felt the need to google them or see a doctor about them as I assumed it was normal for others. Can’t say I suffer badly from headaches or migraines but mainly when I go to bed and repetitive video games can set it off for me. Fascinating to finally know what it is.

When I was a kid my vision would stretch a ton suddenly and whatever I'd be holding would shrink in size. I called this "Long Vision". This has stopped happening, but if I sit still for a few minutes, or I'm groggy from lack of sleep or just being tired in the morning, my body starts to feel upside down, or like it's facing the wrong way. My knees and hips would feel like they're turning the opposite way. Also time dilation causes music to change rhythm and speed drastically. I've satrted growing out of it I believe but it still affects me.

Im 15 and I still experience this. I would get into periods where my vision was flashing and things I saw would get bigger and smaller. I would also have periods at night where I would hear someones voice but It sounded louder and more mean If that makes sense. I use to get it all the time in school, but now it only happens once in a while. I would get headaches behind my eyes and I could barely keep my eyes open

I discovered this syndrome like some days ago, but I just realized that often everything just doesn't feel real to me, I kind of had some visions, or just seeing stuff like in the sky or seeing things in distance, that weren't even there. I often find myself looking around and just imagining weird colors or shapes, the walls shaking or even hearing things like buzzs or even voices that call my name, while no one isn't-

I'm experiencing macropsia since I was young especially when am sick. And it's worsening now .

Thank you for your video on this. My son who is 10 years old just had an episode last night, He hadn't had an episode in about a year. Most of the time he experiences things tiny... It really scares him especially when he sees me looking tiny or his own hands. I think his started in and around 4 years old but he didn't tell me he was just scared and covered up. He finally told me when he was six and a half and I thought oh my gosh you've been suffering through this. He used to cry a lot and I couldn't figure out why He wouldn't tell me. However last night, He had an episode and I asked him questions and he answered to the best of his ability much better than when he was younger. He told me that this happened in the past too but he finally told me there is voices. I asked him if he remembered what the voices said or did. I was trying to see if there was anything I could use to help him. I felt that if I allowed him to talk about it it would help him. I also talked to him about this last night and told him you know what it is so if you have another episode especially at school take a deep breath and realize what is going on. He has never been officially diagnosed however when I talked to his doctor about it the doctor looked at me like I was crazy like it was all made up. Getting a new doctor.

I have this. It’s crazy. The most prominent one that occurres for me is that things with seem far away and close at the same time. Or rather switch back and forth thousands of times a second. On worse days my perception of time speeds up, textures seem off, and objects sizes seem weird. I feel lucky that my symptoms are not that bad compared to some and that it doesn’t happen often. When it happens to me the things that can stop it are drinking water and washing my face. (But it doesn’t always solve it) As a kid I called it “far mode” and “fast mode”. Doctors had no idea what it was and I’m pretty sure that they didn’t believe me. My last time I experienced it was today in class. I’m 27 in college. It was more just the distance this time. Right now the best way to “trigger” it for me is watching a movie or video in the dark. Me not moving around the room or looking around . Very odd

Thank you! I had Alice in Wonderland syndrome when I was 11 years old and had scarlet fever. I was diagnosed with migraines at age 9 and believe it started then. I am now taking a antiviral and it seems to help, but I feel I will always live in a distorted world. Once in awhile I think I see a white 🐰 bunny and happy faces,, it's like a white vase will morph into a bunny then go back to normal. My distortions are very happy, never mean. Sometimes I see in cartoon, very vivid colors and I hear music with no source. I am OK with it and understand others do not experience it. I have never done street drugs and it started as a child. I am glad I am not the only one.

I rarely slip into episodes where objects seem smaller or larger. I’ve never experienced any of the other symptoms like Micropsia or Macropsia. I was just wondering is there a way to induce an episode? Like somewhere I seen that they can trigger an episode if there stare at something 15ft away for 12 minutes. I’m really curious if you can trigger an episode because I enjoy it when it happens. Please I need to know!!

i am a kid with real alicewonderland syndrome. i had to go to therapy because i would have this massive wave of anxiety when the syndrome kicks in and it looks like the walls are closing in on me. It’s very terrifying and my dad had it too sometimes looking at his hands would help. what i would do i would walk/wonder around my house for a minute or two and go lay back down in my bed because my syndrome usually kicks in at nighttime

This was a regular occurrence growing up, and still to this day but not as often or as frightening. I grew up with deadly migraines so I’m sure they had something to do with it. I remember trying to explain it to my mom and sister but I sounded crazy so I kept it to myself. I would have to sleep next to a wall to help me relax when it felt overwhelming. Sometimes it would be so intense a paralyzing feeling would rush over me, almost like falling into a black hole 🕳 I would stop breathing for a short period. Eventually I would get up and turn the lights on to stop it. Some nights I would sleep with the lights on just to be able to rest. I still remember the first time it happened, it all started with starring at a small red light on my alarm clock..

I've experienced a teleopsia an hour ago and search about it. its like something 2 feet away looks more like 10 feet away, actually everything looks 5x farther away. before I was afraid about it and never tell it to anyone and just sleep it out and gone. it only last for like 5 mins to 15 mins and will be back normal without me noticing.

I have a question, so my sister and I get these weird ‘visuals’ and ‘episodes’ of disassociation. Never last that long, longest I had was only about a minute. It only happens when I’m anxious or sometimes randomly. For example I’ll be standing still and I will randomly see everything go slowly black and I’ll see the room I’m in- from an outside view and I will watch the world shrink while I watch it go further and further (smaller and smaller). Throughout it all I lose hearing. I’m just wondering if this would be considered AIWS? I doubt it but i just can’t find any other explanation or name to what I’m describing. The only other person who relates to what i go through is my sister. She only gets them before bed. But i get them throughout my day. So I’m just a bit confused on what it could be named 🤔 if it even has a name

Holy jesus! After having this disorder for years and not knowing what I'm going through, with this video I just realised I am not alone. When I told my family and friends they never believed in me. Like you said especially during lectures, in my eyes teacher was getting bigger and wavy every time. I want to contact with you about this experience. Please reach out.

My alice in wonderland syndrome is so bad right now. I was meditating and it set me off. You sounds and seem incredibly slow to me but my mind is racing as fast as it can.

I never knew this was a thing, It still is a issue even though im 40 now. This terrified me as a kid. I can see everything in grids and have like hot flashes and feel as if i am big. Similar to sticking ones face in front of a tv screen. Like pixels. I just always chalked it up to my imagination. my son is autictic while i am not. i didnt know it can have austistic properties. im still learning about this yet scary. my doctor wanted me to do a psycological study claiming i may have a illness not yet discovered. I am very active and do acting and performing music while as a kid i was extremely shy. Its comforting that i am not alone when i thought it was just me.

I'm currently having this right now and everything looks so small to me. I seem to notice when my episodes occur and this time I was really concentrating and thinking about what else to type on my homework, all while staying relatively still. So it seems there are some forms of triggers for me. I actually find this interesting and wanted to share my experience, hence why I immediately came on KZfaq. What's interesting is that if I consciously tell myself that I want to return to normal, or I want to keep staying staying like this I can. But now that I've tried too hard to think of what else to write on this comment and lost focus of my episode, I've returned to normal.

When I was around 5 I started having troubles with this. I would feel it coming on. When it happened, the entire room would become tiny and everything in the room looked like dollhouse furniture. It naturally scared me and the more it happened the more my parents worried. They eventually sent me to a child psychologist who said I was normal and just had a big imagination...

I only get this during certain migraines depending on the pain intensity

Interesting and weird sensation. I used to have it when I was a kid...i am over 30 and just started having it again...Jux found the name today cos I experienced it today. My experience a part of my body a million times bigger than normal..it was my lower part when I was a child...I recently perceived my head getting bigger enough to fit my room...However I experience it mostly when sleeping or eyes closed...I snap out of it when eyes open or alert. Thank God I'm not alone.

do you notice it comes around when you have a lot of stress because i have major anxiety normally and when i experience aws it makes my anxiety go crazy which in turn makes the aws worse

Lately mine has been acting up. It all started for some reason when i got stung by a Caterpillar when i was younger and i started having night terrors. now it has moved to the day time, where my vision won't be distorted, but i will have that terrifying feeling in my head that I can tell im having an episode. do you feel that sense of terror and endangerment when it happens to you? thanks. I was diagnosed by a doctor. By the way, it went away for a year for the most part but seems to have come back. I'm 15 now.

I have hppd which is essentially aiw but i get only visual distortions and you essentially summed up the visuals quite well

My vision often makes things move further away for a couple minutes. I have had migraines in the past but very rarely. Should I get checked?

How do i get diagnosed if its so rare and i have all the symptoms? It comes and goes i guess but I have it most days. I thought I was crazy at work when it started at 18. I feel like im tripping balls and I almost fall over. but I get more migrane auras and vertigo along with it. Lots of eye pain. The dissociation is terrible with this and I get horrid anxiety too. I hear constant chatters around my room like people chanting and thats creepy. I cant really pin where sound comes from in my head when I'm trying to go to sleep. Vertigo sucks. The vertigo started in HS. This all makes me have depression and anxiety. I have chronic pain along with this and stress. I also have c ptsd. Im taking a 4 day sick day because everything is so scary. Falling asleep is hard because when I'm in the midst of trying ik wired awake from anxiety trying to go into rem cycle. When I close my eyes my brain makes horrid images because the flashing aura lights in my eyes feel like a migrane and they can't process it. Fun times yo! My room is lined with small wood planks that occasional dip into squiggles. My painting stretches in and out of focus narrow and then wide. So does my lamp. My room loses its shape and becomes fish bowl. My window looks 2D then 3D. Then I can feel really small inside my bed like the bed has become giant. Its out of body and floaty feeling. In the day time the vertigo is always there. And my eyes can't handle the room shifting. Driving sucks with this. Its honeslty why I took so long learning how to drive because I cant tell if my peripheral vision is real. I may have my doctor look into MS and other disorders as well before this is diagnosed. At least there are migrane treatments and vertigo treatments. I just got new glasses and they already dont help lmao. When I have an episode I can't walk and I have to hold onto everything. So I have a cane. The worst headache I had felt piercing like I got stabbed with an open wound. It was ice pick like. When this happens I can't talk coherently.

I've had multiple episodes with a few being people's heads looking far away and my hand feeling too big. I've also had an episode where I got up to get a glass of water and I felt as if I was as fast as a cheetah. Thankfully I haven't had any more episodes in 4 years but if I look at someone for too long, their head starts to shrink. I also get freaked out by dispaportuant appendages, especially hands. Does anyone else have these effects?

Hi, do you get visual aura like zigzag colorful blind spot thingy too sometines?

mine for some reason makes me feel like i have spikes coming out of me and my bones are breaking

Epileptic here, and have had it. Especially as a child. I’ve also had time distortion, as in feeling time goes too fast or slow, mostly fast when I had the episodes. It would happen to let me know a seizure was coming (aura). The worst episode was when I was around 13 years old. I shrunk to the size of a penny, and felt as though the living room was colossal and the walls bending inward. Very strange. Of course I had a few seizures after that.

27 years old and i still have it, the worst part for me is the sound, oh god the sound, its like everything is amplified and screaming directly in your ear but if you concentrate really hard it'll disappear for at least 5 seconds, coupled with the eye distortion, not even closing your eyes will make it go away, it raises my heart rate and i could literally hear my heart pounding like its coming from a spkear.

I have a little bit more symptoms than you listed. What about amplifying sound, the feeling of being in a dream, and things speeding up? Usally these come with things becoming bigger and smaller, my hands becoming bigger and smaller, distortion of vision and a little bit of color, etc.

when i was younger, whenever i woke up from a nap, i’d have an episode of alice in wonderland syndrome that normally lasted for about 15 to 30 minutes

Really interesting, thanks for sharing

Someone I know is on the cusp of being diagnosed with this syndrome, and they keep hitting themselves with objects such as books etc… (as a joke). I’m getting really worried about them but I’m not sure how I can help. What should I do?

I dont know if its the same but i also experience things getting bigger or smaller but it only triggers when im sleepy but when i become aware of it, it disappears. I also experience sounds around me getting louder

I’ve had a few sensations waking up in the middle of the night where it felt like my face was shrinking or has shrunk. I would have a menthol cooling feeling throughout my body. Last night when I woke up I was looking down at my legs and they looked smaller to me… though I know they weren’t smaller. I’m wondering if it’s this syndrome or something else. I’m in my 40s

Would time ever seem to speed up or slow down? Is that even associated with this? Like visual and audio slow mo or time lapse

Very interesting how this disorder affects you. I had AIWS when I was a child. I don’t remember when it started, but it practically fizzled out by the time I was in middle school. For me, everything looked extremely far away. I remember lying in bed, and my alarm clock on the nightstand next to me looked to be very far away. It was very scary and isolating. I tried explaining it to my parents, but I was a kid, so it never made sense what was happening to me. I also never remember having migraines, so I’m not sure why mine started. If I am remembering correctly, as I aged, I developed a fix for my symptoms. I would rapidly shift my eyes side to side and up and down, and it seemed to almost “resync” my brain and eyes. By that time, however, I was getting older, and the episodes were becoming much more rare. It makes me so happy to know that we have platforms like this to share our experiences. It helps us realize that we share experiences with others, and I think that helps with the isolated feeling.

I'm 14 turning 15 in January and I always have this thing where music would seem really fast but also slow and loud at the same time. I thought it was just because I was listening to it too much. I tried to force it to happen because it made me feel weird, and it also creeped me out and made my heart beat fast. Once quite a few years ago I had a dream where I was walking down the hallway to my parents room, and everything was moving fast, and getting bigger and smaller somehow. This also happens in real life sometimes and its always when I'm walking down hallways. I also have been getting constant headaches, dizziness (including not being able to focus my eyes for too long), and slight loss of balance for no reason for a few months now. I don't know if any of this actually is AIWS but if anyone knows any other causes I would like to hear them. Thanks.

For me sometimes when I have it I think time slows down and speeds up and I need glasses and it always happened at night so it looked worse

Since I was 6, I had Alice in wonderland syndrome. My hands would become bigger and smaller, sounds were amplified, and had a beat like someone saying everything wrong about me. I would get headaches and migraines a lot and still do. But one that I hate the most is when everything doesn't feel real, it always felt like I was in a dream. I could never enjoy the moment no matter how good it was, I always hated it. A lot of times it came with something that speed up time, or so it felt. Lastly, the most common one of them all is when everything zooms in and out like when I look at my parents, they become bigger and smaller. It's almost like a cartoon. The worst part about all this is that they don't happen one at a time. One always comes with another, most commonly amplifying sound. One note is that I grew up with a lot of health issues and my father had Alice In Wonderland aswhell. I almost died on namonya twice, I have severe life-threatening allergies including seafood, eggs, wheat, nuts, and dairy. I also never had the greatest health, and I'm always sick( I am now). The worst part is that I am just a normal kid, these symptoms just hold me back. BTW, I told my doctor about this and he told me it's Alice In Wonderland Syndromes, and it's connected to types of migraines. I am 13 now, and I still have Alice In Wonderland, it's just not as much.

i have this caused from abusing hallucinogens/ psychs :/ it sucks ur strong for dealing with that for so many years

I'm currently experiencing Alice in wonderland syndrome right now while watching this video lol. It happened to me more often as a kid, especially in school. Sometimes I would randomly remember or think about it and then it would start to happen, or maybe my body knew it was about to happen and that's why I'd think about it? A few ways I've been able to describe it in ways that other people can understand, it looks like the following: -If your normal vision is like a camera lens slightly zoomed in (let's say.. 24mm), then suddenly you slowly zoom out (let's say around 12-16mm). Visually it appears like things are smaller and more image is now in your vision (as if your peripherals have now integrated into your primary vision). -It also reminds me of when you change the resolution on your desktop to a higher resolution, and all the icons on the desktop become smaller, more image is fit into the screen. I remember as a kid when it would happen at school I would be looking at the teacher and they would start to become smaller and smaller, it looked like if they were standing at the end of a hallway and the hallway began to get stretched longer and longer. Looking around the room right now I notice an object on the far side of the room looks exactly as far away as the phone in front of my face. Each of the walls in the room look to be the same distance from me. And now as I type this my vision has almost restored to normal, but it's still slightly there. The whole thing usually lasts about 10-15 minutes, but I've noticed sometimes while it's coming to an end, if I concentrate on something on the far side of the room and think about it, it will begin to zoom back out and extend the duration. Edit: peripherals are definitely integrated into my primary vision. I notice while I'm walking looking straight ahead I can see my body all the way down to my feet.

Hi, I'm doing work on this syndrome. I would love to know if you are able to read normally? Do the letters look small or large?

When I was like 7 I used to see people's heads grow bigger and I was really annoyed about it but it went away so is this still aiws

I had this condition as a child, it went away around the age of 20, my brother and sister also had AIWS as children. For me things would get big and small. time was irrelevant, it was as if everything was sped up and slow motion at the same time, textures felt strange and sounds where very loud. Episode would last anywhere from 10min to 1hr The onset for me would be stress or anxiety, I also experienced myoclonic jerks in my teens which I now know is related to AIWS

Mine started when I was about 6, I’m 48 and still experience it occasionally. I’m not schizophrenic but I do get migraines although migraines are more recent and I didn’t get them when I was younger. I also have pretty severe RLS and wonder if they’re linked. I’ve undergone TMS recently for PTSD, maybe it will help with the AIWS.

I’ve had it as a kid around 8-7 yrs old but it would be worse with other more symptoms. I remember my friends and family thinking I was drunk 😭

I used to get this all the time when I was a kid and growing up, had it a few times as an adult but not nearly as much - it can still be quite jarring when it happens. When I was a kid I would have this same strange dream, a nightmare for me, but for others it would not be scarey I imagine. I would have this dream of a little man holding a tiny pin into the air, and on top of the pin was a gigantic metal ball, something that would be impossible - and that used to terrify me and i'd wake up crying. Then I would feel things between my fingers and they felt strange, hard and tiny at the same time, that would seem to be some sort of trigger, and then I would either see things getting tiny and very far away, or getting very big while I felt tiny. Sounds would also change, everything sounded far away and echoed. Sometimes I would be in bed and it would appear that my duvet became huge like a big massive field, sometimes id hallucinate and see tiny soldiers battling on it. Also, I will sometimes be sitting down and suddenly feel like I am lifting up into the air and lookig down on everything. But like I said, I dont get it as much now as an adult, though I have had it happen. Im not sure what triggers it, I thought it may be stress related as thats usually when it happens, but not always. I also have autism, not sure if the two are linked.

Just remembered that sometimes when i look forwards everything seems to stretch out but that could be something else

I had this as a child in the 1990s. I’d feel like I was lying on a concrete bed which made my body feel really uncomfortable, then I’d feel like I was holding the edges of a really heavy table with my fingertips and the weight of the table made my hands feel really small and like my fingertips were bearing the brunt of the weight. Things looked further away, like my bedroom door was only a few feet away but it looked like it was down a tunnel. I’d hear drums banging over and over in my head and my dads voice saying the same thing over and over again. I’d literally dread bed time as a kid, it was absolute torment.

I experienced this ONCE as a 5 year old. I had been asleep in bed and I woke up feeling extremely hot, and everything in my room looked and felt massive. The room itself was normal sized, but all the objects in the room felt and looked blown up to 4x their actual size. This was accompanied by a blinding headache and dizziness. It only went away when my mother brought my temp down by submerging me in a cool bath.

Are there any other symptoms that come up when you are having these visual distortions? Like nausea or emotional feelings? Thanks!

I know this video is really old and no one will probably see this, but I was wondering if you can have AIWS and schizophrenia at the same time? Me and my mother are very sure that I might have AIWS but I also have seen figures and silhouettes in the past. Is it possible to have both or can you only have one?

I had this condition as a child mostly at night while in bed. I also suffered from frequent headaches. As an adult I still have this condition but only experience it for a few minutes once or twice a year. No more headaches though. I decided after an episode last night to research this and found out about AIWS . I asked my 19 yo daughter if she has any similar symptoms just by chance and she also has a variation of this condition as well.

my experience with symptoms are often feeling that the walls and ceiling and getting smaller, my legs look shorter and one time i was walking to school and i felt as if i was slowly sinking to the ground everything was getting so big

I suffer from this. My symptoms are feeling my arms mouth and head bigger. Used to happen when I was 8 and recently came back now that I'm 41

i Have symptoms every day to some degree...if i take migraine meds it not as intense and the headache are more mild....but i still continue to have auras, trailing when objects move like my hand, and objects appear in different sizes occasionally

im 38 when i was 6 years old i had a high fever and thats the only time in my life i expericenced seeing my parents bigger it was a huge fear i cant even explain how frightening it was and i started running all i can say its probably biggest fear any person can experience now im considering using LSD drug but i found out it might bring back my alice syndrom and stay with me for the rest of my life so im very disappointed because i really wanna try LSD

I've just realized that I have this after my daughter (8 yo) told me she experienced these things. I have always had it, but didn’t look into it until my daughter mentioned it. She has headaches, but we suspect that it's related to stress - and maybe the syndrome is too.

I usually only have these symptoms when I wake up in the middle of the night with a panic attack, almost every night when I was about 5 or 6 to every few months as I got older. I'm now almost 14 and it's usually only happening a couple times a year.

I never got the visual distortions, but I would start to picture blobby, monochrome shapes in my mind and would get the sensation of being huge and then small, huge, small, huge, small, etc. Thankfully, it was never unpleasant for me. In fact, I enjoy when it happens.

I’m here for my presentation tomorrow

I have experienced this very frequently as a child and it decreased with age at 44 my last episode was 1~2 minutes fixed with meditation. Now my son is dealing with the same problem.

I have epilepsy, and things get wavy sometimes.. I wonder if I have it

Scheduling a visit with my doctor because been experiencing a disconcerting feeling of shrinking and have to touch a wall to ground myself. I know vertigo runs in my family but feeling like I’m shrinking drastically was alarming.