strange feeling/effect when in dark

Don`t really no how to explain this sensation or if this is in the right place but l wonder if anybody has experianced this or knows what could be the cause.


Started when l was around seven yrs old.At certain times when l am in the dark and my eyes are staring or looking around l get a sensation that my body is larger than normal and the things l look at seem to reduce in size and if l look at say the window it seems to appear further away.It used to cause me to stay awake and cry when l was younger now l`ve just got used to it.It does happen occasionally in the daytime if l stare at the T.V.
My parents tried the doctors when l was younger but l was too young really to describe it.I still find it difficult to fully describe the sensation.


Any ideas would be great as l am real curious if other people have this

[edit on 10-7-2004 by weirdo]

[edit on 10-7-2004 by weirdo]

I have never had an experience like that- but i also have never heard about it.

I am not fond of the dark myself- i do get strange feeling- but only that someone is watching me- but that could my imagination!

Have you been to the doctors about it recently?? So you actualy feel larger??

I love the dark, good time to think without things to look at n the like, dunno about your problem, could be the fact that in the dark you loose a sense so your others work harder?

Originally posted by misspickle
I have never had an experience like that- but i also have never heard about it.

I am not fond of the dark myself- i do get strange feeling- but only that someone is watching me- but that could my imagination!

Have you been to the doctors about it recently?? So you actualy feel larger??

No not recently. Larger Yeah that`s about the best way to descibe it.It`s not an outer body feeling not that l now or believe or at least kinda hope it`s not.Its kinda like looking down a tunnel that gives the impression it`s long but visually doesn`t distort.Tends to happen more when not completely dark.If l close my eyes l also gatt a sensation of being large when objects are smaller in my minds eye.like l said very difficult to explain

I agree with stuey1221- but you have said that it happend during the day, ihave you done any research yourself into it??

Kinda strange really, but you aint loosing sleep over it are ya? (No punn intended) and it aint worrying you terribly is it?

I think this might be the condition you are describing? I was reading about it a while ago. I hope this helps.

Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) is a rare condition which most doctors and psychiatrists haven’t even heard of. It affects many aspects of the sufferer’s life and can cause tremendous mental suffering.

AIWS is a neurological condition which affects perception. The most prominent and disturbing symptom is that of altered body image: the sufferer will find that they are confused as to the size and shape of their body and their surroundings.

This distortion of perception also affects the way the sufferer “sees”. I use quotes, because the eyes are not affected in any way, only the interpretation of the information passed to the brain from the eyes. To the sufferer, this distinction is unimportant.

If the sufferer feels that their body is larger than normal, they may “see” their surroundings are smaller than normal. This leads to sufferers reporting that cars, people, etc. look like miniature models.

The reverse effect is also common. The world may appear huge, while the sufferer feels that they have shrunk.

With eyes closed, the continues to perceive their surroundings as large and their body as small, or vice versa. Therefore the effect cannot be “shut out” in this way.

AIWS is most commonly reported by sufferers of classical migraine and by small children. Children are usually less worried than adults by the condition. To the adult, who is also suffering from the symptoms of classical migraine, AIWS can be extremely frightening.

rikkus.info...

Weird. i, nor anyone else i know has that problem but at night if i stare at my window, or other object barley visible, its begins to fade away into black if i dont blink. I also get a tingling feeling as it fades.

Originally posted by weirdo
Started when l was around seven yrs old.At certain times when l am in the dark and my eyes are staring or looking around l get a sensation that my body is larger than normal and the things l look at seem to reduce in size and if l look at say the window it seems to appear further away.It used to cause me to stay awake and cry when l was younger now l`ve just got used to it.It does happen occasionally in the daytime if l stare at the T.V.
My parents tried the doctors when l was younger but l was too young really to describe it.I still find it difficult to fully describe the sensation.
[edit on 10-7-2004 by weirdo]

weirdo - I think after reading your post that it prety much describes some of the same things I've felt before...if it's anything like my expereinces tho, it prob took u a while to put it all into words

From what I can remember, I've always had it....and it just kicks in, not so much while in the dark for me, although when I was a kid I think that it may have been onset like that more - it feels like you suddenly are seperated and detached from the rest of the world and you get this feeling like if you move or pick something up that it's this tiny little object...just typing this gives me the same feeling almost...and you can't control it, it just slowly goes away....

I never really got too scared as a kid about it, I always thought it was some neat trick....but if it would happen at the diner table or something it would freak me out a little bit...I remember telling my parents about it once, and they didn't know what to make of it so next time I went to the doctor I told them what was happening...although, like I said earlier, it's hard to put into words, and I must not have sounded very convincing, cuz he didn't think much of it....

It still happens now from time to time - I've noticed that it occured maybe once a month as a kid but now I maybe get it 4-5 times a year, and it's usually pretty brief....Mynaeris thanks for getting that info on AIWS, I think that could be it, and I'm gonna do a lill more research on it

weirdo - guess we're two weirdos' - lol - I'm interested in seeing whether or not some of what I've said strikes you as similar....maybe we can tackle this together, it would make for an interesting research topic....but this is the first time I've ever heard anyone talk about this and say that they too have these symptoms - thanks for posting

EDIT - I forgot as I was posting that you said you had and still have the same difficulty of explaining this feeling - that's just too weird....

[edit on 7/10/2004 by EnronOutrunHomerun]

I get the same thing quite often, but not always in the dark. I usually get it while sitting in class. I'll be sitting there, starting to zone out, then everything becomes "distant". The teacher in the front of the room goes from being 10 feet in front of me to, like 30 feet. Everything gets "tiny." Also sounds become a little fainter. It also happens sometimes as I am falling asleep. Never thought anything strange of it. It actually gets me thinking about what it actually "reality" and what it just perception. Like you said, hard to put into words. The best example I can give is like that scene in the movie, "Trainspotting" when Euan McGreggor (sp) is going through withdrawl in his room, and the far wall seems to go farther and farther away. Hope that helps. PEACE!!!

Originally posted by EnronOutrunHomerun

Originally posted by weirdo
Started when l was around seven yrs old.At certain times when l am in the dark and my eyes are staring or looking around l get a sensation that my body is larger than normal and the things l look at seem to reduce in size and if l look at say the window it seems to appear further away.It used to cause me to stay awake and cry when l was younger now l`ve just got used to it.It does happen occasionally in the daytime if l stare at the T.V.
My parents tried the doctors when l was younger but l was too young really to describe it.I still find it difficult to fully describe the sensation.
[edit on 10-7-2004 by weirdo]

weirdo - I think after reading your post that it prety much describes some of the same things I've felt before...if it's anything like my expereinces tho, it prob took u a while to put it all into words

From what I can remember, I've always had it....and it just kicks in, not so much while in the dark for me, although when I was a kid I think that it may have been onset like that more - it feels like you suddenly are seperated and detached from the rest of the world and you get this feeling like if you move or pick something up that it's this tiny little object...just typing this gives me the same feeling almost...and you can't control it, it just slowly goes away....

I never really got too scared as a kid about it, I always thought it was some neat trick....but if it would happen at the diner table or something it would freak me out a little bit...I remember telling my parents about it once, and they didn't know what to make of it so next time I went to the doctor I told them what was happening...although, like I said earlier, it's hard to put into words, and I must not have sounded very convincing, cuz he didn't think much of it....

It still happens now from time to time - I've noticed that it occured maybe once a month as a kid but now I maybe get it 4-5 times a year, and it's usually pretty brief....Mynaeris thanks for getting that info on AIWS, I think that could be it, and I'm gonna do a lill more research on it

weirdo - guess we're two weirdos' - lol - I'm interested in seeing whether or not some of what I've said strikes you as similar....maybe we can tackle this together, it would make for an interesting research topic....but this is the first time I've ever heard anyone talk about this and say that they too have these symptoms - thanks for posting

EDIT - I forgot as I was posting that you said you had and still have the same difficulty of explaining this feeling - that's just too weird....

[edit on 7/10/2004 by EnronOutrunHomerun]

WOW.I didn`t mention the felling l get about touching objects because that was harder to explain.I haven`t done any research cos l didn`t know where to start.I dosn`t freak me out kinda got used to it and it doesn`t happen all the time l guess like you only 2-4 times a year except if l think about it can happen.Let me no what you can find out.keep in touch.u2u me anytime

Mynaeris.thanxs for the info.I can now at least look into it

Only read the first few post (not much time), but would like to ask a few questions wierdo:

1) Does this only happen when you are sitting/lying still?

2) If you move does it end the feeling?

3) Do sounds sound like they are coming from far away?

4) Does your body feel much more relaxed in this state?

5) Does your perception of time change slightly?

6) Do sharp sounds feel very uncomfortable when you hear them in this state?

Just want to cross reference with something I feel, will explain more after I get your answers (also noticed someone else has the same feeling, feel free to answer them as well, you never know you could give different answers).

Thanks

Faceless

1)Both
2)No
3)No
4)Yes
5)Not noticed.but haven`t realy checked.
6)No

Let me now what you experiance

With my experience it is a yes to all the questions, but my experience is brought on deliberatly.

When I meditate and enter a trance state my body feels like it expands with all of the symptoms I mentioned above. What I thought might be happening to you is this same thing that this is happening involuntarily.

However you have answered no to some of the questions so I highly doubt that this is what s happening to you.

Originally posted by Woodside
The best example I can give is like that scene in the movie, "Trainspotting" when Euan McGreggor (sp) is going through withdrawl in his room, and the far wall seems to go farther and farther away.

Yeah...that's a good example - or like in the movie Vertigo, when James Stewart's is looking down at the ground in various scenes and the distance from the ground that the camera portrays suddenly unfolds like an accordian to become three or four times further away...I wish I knew what that camera technique was called, it's awesome to watch....

Originally posted by weirdo
WOW.I didn`t mention the felling l get about touching objects because that was harder to explain.

It's such a weird feeling....it's like you can pick up a toothpick and in your mind's eye it's the size of an ant, but you can till actually register the size by feeling it and looking at it, but it's like a glaze that goes over your perception...I can pick up a guitar and be like...ok - this is a large object...but I'll still get that same feeling - that in my hands this guitar is far away and small

I mentioned the movie Vertigo earlier...maybe these symptoms fall under that "disease"....

But yeah, if I find anything more out I'll be sure to let ya know

Here's some info I found right off the bat, but I think I might do some research at a library to dig a little deeper...I'd really suggest reading all these links, they have some intersting information...

Source Link
Metamorphosias, are visual illusions (12). They may include the following: Dysmegalopsia, (alterations in the form of objects), micropsia and macropsia in which real visual perceptions are seen smaller or larger than they really are. Micropsia can be accompanied by teleopsia, in which the minified object is seen far away. In pelopsia objects are seen as getting closer. Allesthesia modifies the perception of the place where a true object really is. Palinopsia, is a persistent visual sensation after the object has been removed from the patient's visual field. These events have more an illusory than hallucinatory quality, and are frequently associated with either parietal lobe pathology or as a component of a migrainous aura.

Source Link
Dr. Todd cited six cases in his CMAJ article. Their histories were filled with reports that sounded exactly like the sensations described in the Alice books. In medical terms, he diagnosed Alice with having the symptoms of "hyperschemata, hyposchemata, derealization, depersonalization and somatopsychic duality" as well as having teliopsia (the feeling that external articles were small and far away) and peliopsia (the experience that articles are large and close). Dr. Todd referred to a few other authors who had described similar symptoms, but who had not suggested they comprised a syndrome. Included in earlier accounts were people who felt they had left their body and were viewing it from outside. (This of course, is a common report from people who have near-death experiences.)

This is one of the more serious parts of this article...the rest just seems to joke around....

Source Link
Psychoanalytic interpretation by Todd has made more understandable and plausible the illusionary dreams, feeling of levitation, and alteration in the sense of passage of time that Alice experienced. Alice trod the paths and byways of a wonderland well known to Carroll, her creator, who suffered severely from migraine. The majority of patients have personal or family history of migraine.

I admit that I do have migraines, but I dont remember ever having one while experiencing this...and I was thinking just recently, that some of the effects I have when this happens are almost the same as you get when you just took a major rip off of a bong, w/o the dizziness - lol - But I dunno if you smoke, so maybe that doens't help any....

Anyways, I'll probablly look for some more heavier stuff a little later this week