Recently, 63-year-old Pramod Patil (name changed) in Pune recovered from a rare neurological condition. Patil described his experience of the condition as being attacked by 200 finger-sized people. His family members explained that he used to shout all the time. These hallucinations and distortions in perception are characteristic of this rare neurological disorder known as Alice in Wonderland Syndrome.

However, the characteristics of the neurological disorder are not just limited to hallucination and distortions in objects and people around us, but can also affect how we perceive our own body. For example, a patient described that they felt their head was too big and they felt like one of their limbs did not exist. Other than body image, those undergoing the disorder can experience depersonalisation — a state in which a person can not identify and own their own thoughts and feelings, and derealisation — a sensation in which a person feels like they are outside their body and whatever is happening around is not real. A sense of illusion is common among most cases of the condition.

The main causes of this disorder are believed to be some infection or other underlying pathological processes, such as encephalitis in kids and migraine in adults. According to a 2019 study published in the journal Frontiers of Neurology, doctors have been able to identify only 180 cases of the condition yet, even though there has been a steady rise in such cases over the past few years. Scientists are not sure how this disorder is caused but some guess that an infection could affect how much oxygen the brain gets, and trigger this disorder as a result.

In the case of Patil, the disorder was likely to be caused by post-traumatic stress, according to his doctor Dharmendra Kendre, a neuropsychologist at Noble Hospital.

Rare 'Alice in Wonderland' Syndrome Causes Hallucinations of Finger-sized People

The Alice in Wonderland syndrome can cause hallucinations as well as affect how we perceive our own body.