A woman has been diagnosed with a rare 'Alice in Wonderland' syndrome (AIWS) that makes her feel objects are growing and shrinking around her, according to the Daily Mail.
Abigail Moss, 24, was diagnosed with the condition after seeing an episode of the hit television series 'House' and reading about it in a newspaper. Moss's condition affects her sense of vision and perception, causing objects to seemingly grow and shrink around her. AIWS causes patients to experience similar symptoms to those featured in the actual film created by Lewis Carroll. Moss confirmed that she started experiencing hallucinations as early as the age of five. "When I was younger, I would suffer from attacks almost every other day and that was quite scare. What made it worse was that nobody knew what it was."
AIWS attacks can take place anytime, anywhere and typically lasts approximately 20 minutes. "An attack gradually builds up on you. You feel like the room is shrinking in on you and that your body is becoming larger. Your arms and legs start to feel longer. Things look further away or seem smaller than they are. Everything feels exaggerated and movements feel faster and sudden. It feels exactly how Alice did in the book - the way everything feels big or small and strangely out of proportion. I guess that's why the syndrome's named after it."
Moss consulted with six psychologists and some diagnosed her incorrectly. One psychologist suggested she has epilepsy and another told her that it is possible she would just 'outgrow it'. It was only last year that she was diagnosed with the condition. "I read about AIWS in a small column in a newspaper and thought, 'Oh my god, that's what I have!'"
