Table 2.
AIWS characteristics
| n (%*) or mean ± SD | Missing n (%*) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal symptoms | ||
| Micropsia and/or telopsia | 97 (72.9) | |
| Macropsia and/or pelopsia | 51 (83.3) | |
| Micro- and/or Macrosomatognosia | 66 (49.6) | |
| Age at onset [years] | 22.1 ± 14.08 | 12 (9) |
| Age at last event [years] | 38.2 ± 13.2 | 7 (5.3) |
| Sense of joy/happiness at that moment | 9 (6.8) | – |
| Sense of fear/dread at that moment | 55 (41.4) | – |
| Awareness that perception is not real | 108 (81.2) | – |
| Headache before/after/during | 84 (65.1) | 4 (3.0) |
| Associated symptoms | ||
| Feeling of unfamiliarity/disconnection toward their own body, sensations, or physical experiences, perceiving them as unreal and distant | 64 (49.2) | 3 (2.3) |
| Environment appeared unreal, surreal, or inexplicably changed | 70 (53.8) | 3 (2.3) |
| Sense of time passing either faster or slower | 81 (62.3) | 3 (2.3) |
| Sensation of being two separate individuals simultaneously | 21 (15.9) | 1 (0.8) |
| Feeling of floating | 51 (39.2) | 3 (2.3) |
| Cause attributed by the participant for the perceptual changes | 26 (19.7) | 1 (0.8) |
| Sleep deprivation | 13/26 (35.1#) | – |
| Migraine | 5/26 (13.5#) | – |
| Traumatic experience, PTSD, dissociation, panic attack | 4/26 (10.8#) | – |
| Emotions, stress | 3/26 (8.1#) | – |
| Fever | 4/26 (10.8#) | – |
| Drugs | 2/26 (5.4#) | – |
| Others | 6/26 (16.2#) | – |
*of AIWS cases, #% of answers