Original Paper

'Alice in Wonderland' Syndrome as a Precursor of Depressive Disorder
Masafumi Mizuno,, Haruo Kashima,, Hiromi Chiba,, Masaaki Murakami,, Masahiro Asai

Department of Neuropsychiatry, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

Address of Corresponding Author

Psychopathology 1998;31:85-89 (DOI: 10.1159/000029027)

  Abstract

A 54-year-old Japanese businessman who was found to exhibit the 'Alice in Wonderland' syndrome and went on to develop a depressive disorder is described. Lengthening and shortening of time experience continued intermittently for about 3 months, and metamorphopsia, distortion of body image, and the quick-motion phenomenon (alteration in time sense) persisted for almost 2 days without interruption. There were no abnormal physical findings. The authors review studies on 'Alice in Wonderland' syndrome and suggest that depressive illness may be a causal factor.

  Author Contacts

Masafumi Mizuno, MD, PhD
Department of Neuropsychiatry
School of Medicine, Keio University
35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160 (Japan)
Tel. (3) 3353 1211/ext 2454, Fax (3) 5379 0187

  Article Information

Number of Print Pages : 5
Number of Figures : 1, Number of Tables : 0, Number of References : 14