<p>I too have experienced this sensation. I used to experience it quite often when I was younger, but I still experience it once in a blue moon. I have a friend who also sometimes experiences it. For me, it was not really the environment but rather that I felt I would become larger and smaller over several seconds, as if there were some sort of constriction followed by expansion going on (of far greater amplitude than breathing, for example). For years I had no hypothesis on the cause, but then I took a class on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_neuroscience" rel="nofollow">biopsychology</a>, wherein I thoroughly studied the materials, including additional material. I now have a hypothesis on a possible cause: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcolepsy" rel="nofollow">narcolepsy</a>.</p>

<p>Since I was a child, I have experienced episodes of conscious sleep paralysis (during sleeping hours, not during the day), which I learned in biopsychology to be related to narcolepsy. My hypothesis is that these sensations of growing and shrinking are related to a very light case of narcolepsy or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataplexy" rel="nofollow">cataplexy</a>. I had a friend once tell me of experiencing these sensations, whereafter I expressed that I too felt similar sensations at times. It so happens that this friend had a mother with official narcolepsy, which further supports this hypothesis.</p>

<p>I too would be interested to learn whether this sensation is related to cataplexy or narcolepsy.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-20T20:41:19.330Z
I don't think I've ever had the slightest problem with cataplexy, but I might believe it's a very mild narcolepsy. I need a lot of sleep, and when I was younger I'd try to get by on 6 hours. I don't enter REM immediately, though, or it would have shown up in a couple of sleep tests I had.
MackTuesday
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-20T23:15:45.517Z
I wouldn't say I have cataplexy either. For me as well, if anything, it would be mild narcolepsy. Only occasionally do I enter REM (or sleep paralysis) immediately. Plus, this is only a hypothesis based on observations and a little bit of connecting the dots. I welcome competing hypotheses.
Michael
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-19T16:17:17.627Z
2015-12-19T16:31:10.360Z
2015-12-19T16:31:10.360Z
Michael
<p>The symptoms belong to the <strong>Alice-in-Wonderland Syndrome</strong>, which is supposed to be very common in childhood. An interesting article appeared in the <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/23/alice-in-wonderland-syndrome/?_r=0" rel="nofollow">New York Times</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-20T23:26:09.193Z
That article is an interesting addition to this question. I personally have never had a problem with migraines. "[S]ufferers perceive their own body parts to be larger or smaller" is the more prominent effect when it happens to me. Just so people do not misinterpret me here, the perceived difference in size is often extreme, like the difference between a pencil and a tree trunk.
Michael
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-21T03:52:31.070Z
This is exactly what I'm talking about! The author says she found the answer online in minutes. How on earth did she do that?
MackTuesday
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-20T22:16:47.347Z
2015-12-20T22:24:24.490Z
2015-12-20T22:24:24.490Z
Björn Friedrich
<p>It doesn't happen anymore, but when I was younger I would often get strange sensations regarding scale that I never heard anyone else report.</p>

<p>There were two different flavors. One felt like the room and everything in it were both small and large at the same time. If I were to ask myself, "Do I feel like I'm small in a small room, or huge in a huge room?" I would say, "both, at the same time".</p>

<p>The other happened only in my mind. Roughly speaking, it was a kind of tactile sensation. It felt like I was sort of... "handling" an object, perhaps pencil-shaped, that was skinny and fat at the same time.</p>

<p>It happened most often when I was about to fall asleep, but it sometimes occurred in the middle of the day.</p>

<p>Is this sort of thing known and documented? Is there any sense to be made of it? I tried to search online but had no luck. What would I even search for?</p>

<perception>
Paradoxical senses of scale: Are they common or is it just me?
MackTuesday
# Paradoxical senses of scale: Are they common or is it just me?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-12-19)

It doesn't happen anymore, but when I was younger I would often get strange sensations regarding scale that I never heard anyone else report.

There were two different flavors. One felt like the room and everything in it were both small and large at the same time. If I were to ask myself, "Do I feel like I'm small in a small room, or huge in a huge room?" I would say, "both, at the same time".

The other happened only in my mind. Roughly speaking, it was a kind of tactile sensation. It felt like I was sort of... "handling" an object, perhaps pencil-shaped, that was skinny and fat at the same time.

It happened most often when I was about to fall asleep, but it sometimes occurred in the middle of the day.

Is this sort of thing known and documented? Is there any sense to be made of it? I tried to search online but had no luck. What would I even search for?

**Tags:** perception


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-12-20. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The symptoms belong to the **Alice-in-Wonderland Syndrome**, which is supposed to be very common in childhood. An interesting article appeared in the [New York Times](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/23/alice-in-wonderland-syndrome/?_r=0).

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: That article is an interesting addition to this question. I personally have never had a problem with migraines. "[S]ufferers perceive their own body parts to be larger or smaller" is the more prominent effect when it happens to me. Just so people do not misinterpret me here, the perceived difference in size is often extreme, like the difference between a pencil and a tree trunk.  
> **username_0**: This is exactly what I'm talking about! The author says she found the answer online in minutes. How on earth did she do that?  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-12-19. Score: 1

I too have experienced this sensation. I used to experience it quite often when I was younger, but I still experience it once in a blue moon. I have a friend who also sometimes experiences it. For me, it was not really the environment but rather that I felt I would become larger and smaller over several seconds, as if there were some sort of constriction followed by expansion going on (of far greater amplitude than breathing, for example). For years I had no hypothesis on the cause, but then I took a class on [biopsychology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_neuroscience), wherein I thoroughly studied the materials, including additional material. I now have a hypothesis on a possible cause: [narcolepsy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcolepsy).

Since I was a child, I have experienced episodes of conscious sleep paralysis (during sleeping hours, not during the day), which I learned in biopsychology to be related to narcolepsy. My hypothesis is that these sensations of growing and shrinking are related to a very light case of narcolepsy or [cataplexy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataplexy). I had a friend once tell me of experiencing these sensations, whereafter I expressed that I too felt similar sensations at times. It so happens that this friend had a mother with official narcolepsy, which further supports this hypothesis.

I too would be interested to learn whether this sensation is related to cataplexy or narcolepsy.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I don't think I've ever had the slightest problem with cataplexy, but I might believe it's a very mild narcolepsy. I need a lot of sleep, and when I was younger I'd try to get by on 6 hours. I don't enter REM immediately, though, or it would have shown up in a couple of sleep tests I had.  
> **username_1**: I wouldn't say I have cataplexy either. For me as well, if anything, it would be mild narcolepsy. Only occasionally do I enter REM (or sleep paralysis) immediately. Plus, this is only a hypothesis based on observations and a little bit of connecting the dots. I welcome competing hypotheses.  

---

