Alien Hand Syndrome: The Possibility Of Getting Killed by Your Own Hand

 Remember that scene from the Jim Carrey movie " liar liar " when he was beating himself so hard as if his own hand was controlling him , and we all laughed and found it so funny, well actually it's not that funny when it happens in reality, why? because you could actually get killed by your own hand , how is that even possible Is what we're gonna be discussing in this article today about one of the rarest mental disorders

What's the Alien hand syndrome

The first Alien hand syndrome case was recorded back in 1909 , it's a mental disease that causes the patient to lose total control of one of his hands or limbs , and causes the hand to act independently as if it has its own mind, and perform direct actions which makes the patient feel like if the hand doesn't actually belong to him , but at the same time he doesn't deny his ownership of that hand .

The fact that the hand has its own way of thinking and making decisions is totally dangerous because you can't expect what's coming next, the hand may pull the hair of its owner , hit him on the face , or even choke him to death. 

Causes of Alien hand syndrome

The Alien hand syndrome can be caused by several factors such as :Brain strokes ,Trauma , Brain tumor .It's also associated with Neurodegenerative diseases and cancer and brain aneurysms . 

it was also mentioned in the healthline article about Alien hand syndrome that

"Alien hand syndrome is linked to brain surgeries that separate the two hemispheres of the brain. This may involve an incision along the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum divides the brain hemispheres and allows for communication between the two sides.

Surgeries to treat epilepsy sometimes affect the brain in this way. Lesions have also been found in the anterior cingulate cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and supplementary motor cortex areas of the brain in those with the condition" 

Symptoms of Alien hand syndrome

- The first one of the symptoms and the most agreed upon , is the inability to control the hand as it acts independently according to its own mind. 

- The hand may pull its owner's hair, button his shirt , or pick up any random object repeatedly .

- The hand may engage in self- oppositional

behaviors like Unbuttoning a shirt just been buttoned or turning on the light after turning it off only

seconds ago. 

- People with the syndrome sense that the hand doesn't belong to them anymore

- The lift hand or the non dominant hand is mostly the one affected .

Treatment for the syndrome

Scientists are working on several solutions to reduce the symptoms, even though there's no cure for the Alien hand syndrome till now . 

So they invented muscle control therapies, and mirror box therapies but it didn't help with all patients, some didn't respond to the therapy as they were supposed to. 

And because every solution isn't 100% effective, the patients themselves tried several ways to reduce the symptoms, by trying to restrain their Alien hand by holding it between their legs or by sitting on it. 

Or by holding objects in the hand to prevent it from preforming tasks.
Some people may give commands to their Alien hand to stop it's actions

Karen Byrne

Karen is a 55 years old lady who lives in New Jersey and suffers from Alien Hand syndrome,  but this time her case was extremely extraordinary,  as it's not only her left arm that's affected by the disorder but also her left leg occasionally behaves as if it was under the control of an alien intelligence,  and it all started after Karen had surgery at the age of 27 to control her epilepsy which had dominated her life since she was 10.

References:

ncbi.nlm

healthline.com

bbc.com