Can you imagine having an enemy living with you 24 hours a day, who resides within your own body? Could you imagine one of your hands suddenly turning against you, and making your life impossible? Yes, just as if it were possessed by a restless spirit, or some sort of evil being.
Well…believe it or not, that is the reality people who suffer from Alien Hand Syndrome have to face every day. Also known as the Dr. Strangelove syndrome, this is a very uncommon neurological disorder. It was first discovered in 1908 by the Prussian psychiatrist Kurt Goldstein (1878-1965). The symptoms are simple… but terrifying nonetheless: Those who suffer from this disorder see how one of their hands starts moving involuntarily, without being able to control it.
They also feel that their hand is alien to them, as if it had a personality of its own. It sounds a bit outlandish, but the studied cases – about 50 throughout history –are very clear.
The alien hands can carry out complicated actions such as grabbing objects, opening and closing doors, and even button up a shirt. Many times the patient is not conscious of what their hand is doing, until the hand catches their attention.
Those involuntary movements can go against what the controlled hand does, as if the alien hand wanted to stop the other hand. They can even reach the point of using objects dangerously, trying to damage the person or even other people. The alien hand seems to act most intensely when the patient is fatigued, or is experiencing anxiety. Some end up believing that they are possessed by a spirit, and can even punish themselves, or fight with themselves, trying to control it.
Victims of this disorder mention, for instance, that in some situations they suddenly grab an object, and are incapable of letting it go. Or they might be putting on their clothes with one hand, while the other starts undressing them. It can also happen that, while channel-surfing on the TV, they change to another channel they didn't want to see, or they could be holding a drink with their alien hand while trying to eat a piece of
bread with the other, and they end up putting both the drink and the bread in their mouth at the same time. And sometimes, the alien hand even tries to asphyxiate them!
The cause of this rare neurological disorder is usually some sort of brain damage – for instance, by receiving a contusion in the head that affects a specific area in the cortex or the frontal lobe. It can also occur as a side effect of a complicated brain surgery, or as a result of other natural illnesses such as tumors, aneurysms (éniurísms), or Alzheimer's. Unfortunately, there is no cure nor treatment for this syndrome nowadays – all patients can
do is reduce the symptoms by keeping the alien hand occupied with a particular task, such as playing with a stress ball. It's also important for these patients to keep their environment free of attractive objects, and especially objects that could be dangerous.
The Alien Hand Syndrome is uncommon but not obscure, and has served as inspiration for many movie scenes. If you've ever watched the horror classic "Evil Dead 2", then you likely remember the scene where the protagonist Ash fights against his own hand, possessed by an infernal spirit, driving him to the point of having to cut it out and replace it with an electric chainsaw. I won't spoil what happens next…🤠 But let's just say that, in the long run, that change really was for the better!
And in the movie "Bedazzled" (bedázold), with a more comical tone, Brendan Fraser sells his soul to the devil, who toys with him in different ways, one of them being losing control of his hand. Even the hilarious Jim Carrey gave us one of his craziest moments in the movie "Liar Liar", where he plays the role of a lawyer that can’t lie. In one of the scenes he confronts his hand directly, which takes on a life of its own and writes the truth right on his own face.
Although it can sometimes have its funny side, just like it happens with Tourette's (turéts) Syndrome, the Alien Hand Syndrome is a constant headache for whomever suffers from it.
And if you don't think that is possible, try looking at one of your arms and see it turn against you......🌝
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