As a child I suffered from what I now know is called AIWS. Back then, though, I had no inkling what it actually was. It was frightening, ever so frightening. I would see things, both far away and close by at the same time, and would hear things loud, yet also ever so quiet. I would also get a feeling, a really bad feeling of foreboding, that something terrible was about to happen. From time to time i saw either the devil or an angel alongside my bed, where I was lying. Thankfully, as an adult, I do not experience these instances much anymore.

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Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome (AIWS, named after the novel written by Lewis Carroll), also known as Todd’s syndrome or lilliputian hallucinations, is a disorienting neurological condition that affects human perception. Sufferers may experience micropsia, macropsia, or size distortion of other sensory modalities. A temporary condition, it is often associated with migraines, brain tumors, and the use of psychoactive drugs. It can also present as the initial sign of the Epstein-Barr Virus (see mononucleosis). Anecdotal reports suggest that the symptoms of AIWS are fairly common in childhood,[citation needed] with many people growing out of them in their teens. It appears that AIWS is also a common experience at sleep onset. Alice in Wonderland Syndrome can be caused by abnormal amounts of electrical activity causing abnormal blood flow in the parts of the brain that process visual perception and texture.

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