6 Bizarre Perception Syndromes
Exploding
Head Syndrome
Don't
worry; like the other items on our list, exploding head syndrome is about
mental experiences, not physical phenomena. We're not talking about actual
exploding heads here. If you're into that sort of thing, just do a quick
internet search for exploding heads, or watch the movie Scanners. We'll wait
while you satisfy your morbid curiosity.
Now
that you're done with that, we're going to talk a bit about this odd disease.
Although the sufferers can and do live with this syndrome, it's definitely no
walk in the park. Exploding head syndrome causes people to experience extremely
loud sounds in their head, as if an explosion had gone off nearby. It's called
a "parasomnia condition" because it usually occurs while people are
sleeping, most often after an hour or so of sleep.
Luckily, there is usually no pain involved in this syndrome. So you might think
that a supersonic jet has just buzzed your house, but at least you won't suffer
the pain of exploded eardrums that would occur if that actually happened.
Alice
in Wonderland Syndrome
Changing
your size at will is one of those things that people would consider a
superpower if it actually occurred outside of our imaginations. If you could
grow and shrink in real life, you'd be able to do all sorts of cool things,
like crush the house of your neighborhood bully or sneak into the locker room
of the opposite sex and ogle to your heart's content. And even the downsides of
this ability - possibly getting stepped on, having to find an enormous pair of
pants to avoid embarrassment (or else taking advantage of the amazing abilities
of the Incredible Hulk's tailor, who can make pants impervious to shredding
despite rapid changes in size) - seem more like exciting adventures than true
negatives.
However,
what would your life be like if you only thought that you were getting bigger
or smaller? Or if it looked like the world around you was doing so? That's what
it's like for sufferers of the aptly named Alice in Wonderland syndrome. To
these people, it appears that things are changing in size around them. Other
weird sensory experiences can also occur.
In some cases, this syndrome occurs in children, and disappears slowly over
time.
Synesthesia
Synesthesia
is perhaps one of the least horrible syndromes on our list. In fact, some
people love having this perception (dis)ability.
People
with synesthesia basically get their sensory organs mixed up. Stimulation to
one organ, such as the ears, for example, will lead to an automatic involuntary
stimulation of another organ, such as the eyes. That's where you get
experiences such as people "seeing sounds" or "hearing
smells."
You might think that this would be a syndrome that was easy to fake, but in
reality, there are some pretty reliable tests for proving its existence. And
we're sure that part of those tests is making sure that the supposed sufferers
haven't consumed any special substances lately.
Genital
Retraction Syndrome
Genital
retraction syndrome, also known as "penis panic,", occurs in certain
cultures, often in many people over a short period of time (hence the name
"panic"). Sufferers of this syndrome believe that the organ in
question is shrinking away to nothing, or else that it has been removed
entirely. Little is known about this syndrome because it tends to occur in
remote locations in which access to reliable medical information is rare or
nonexistent.
Interestingly
enough (if by interesting, we mean bizarre and kind of terrifying), the
syndrome also occurs in woman. In this case, it is the breasts that are
believed to be shrinking away to nothing.
Congenital
Insensitivity to Pain
Here's
another bizarre perception syndrome that seems at first glance to have some
positive upsides in addition to the obvious negative downsides. Would it really
be so bad to not feel pain? Think of getting in a fight, and being able to
cream the other person without suffering the pain of your own side of the
beating. That doesn't sound too bad at all!
The
thing is, just because you have congenital insensitivity to pain doesn't mean
that you're impervious to damage. So, not so much like Wolverine. Remember, the
syndromes on this list aren't physical abnormalities; they're abnormalities in
the way that people perceive the world. Touch is, after all, a type of perception.
You'd be surprised at how many ways feeling pain actually protects you,
especially with the bad rap that pain tends to get. We try to get rid of it
whenever we feel it by doping ourselves up with painkillers, but it actually
helps us out a lot. When you grab something hot, pain makes you let go before
you get seriously burned. When something sharp touches you, pain makes you get
away before you get cut badly. Sadly, people with pain insensitivity often get
injured without even knowing it.
Alien
Hand Syndrome
We're
sorry to break it to you, but alien hand syndrome isn't a syndrome in which you
get abducted by aliens, and they replace your hand with one that isn't made
from human flesh. It also isn't a syndrome in which aliens put implants in your
hand so that they can control it, although some people with this syndrome might
say that's the case.
No,
alien hand syndrome is actually a syndrome in which sufferers perceive that one
of their hands is no longer under their control. Just like in the movie Idle
Hands, the owner of the hand can end up doing things that they believe they
have no control over, because they believe something (or someone) else is
controlling them.
Again,
brains. Give us a break, and let us keep our hands to ourselves, if that's what
we choose to do. If you do we promise to give you all the brain food that you
rightly deserve!
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