The View from a Drawbridge

The random musings of an autistic bridgetender with entirely too much time on her hands.

Alien Hand Syndrome

I caught the tail end of an NPR story during my commute. It was about Alien Hand Syndrome, and it sent me scampering off to Google, because stuff like that fascinates me. Imagine having a body part with a mind of its own. (Okay guys, get your mind out of the gutter.) First of all,…

I caught the tail end of an NPR story during my commute. It was about Alien Hand Syndrome, and it sent me scampering off to Google, because stuff like that fascinates me. Imagine having a body part with a mind of its own. (Okay guys, get your mind out of the gutter.)

First of all, lest you panic, this syndrome is very rare. There have been less than 100 cases documented. And thank goodness for that, because it sounds like a living hell.

It usually crops up in individuals with epilepsy so severe that they have to have their left and right brains surgically separated in order to stop the constant seizures. Needless to say, there are bound to be side effects when you take such extreme measures.

As most of us know, the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and vice versa. The left side also is the verbal side. So when you separate the brain in two in this manner, you are leaving the right side of the brain and the left side of the body with no way to communicate, and no way to express themselves logically. Apparently that pisses them off, and the left hand, in particular, tends to act out.

People with this syndrome are often unaware of what their left hand is up to, and it’s often up to no good. There have been stories of people being beaten by their own hand, or choked, or stabbed. The left hand will sometimes try to steer their cars off the road. Or your right hand turns the page of a book you are enjoying, and your left hand decides to tear all the pages out. Or “you” want to get dressed, and “it” wants to get you naked in public. How mortifying!

For some reason this reminded me of the Cymothoa Exigua, which is a parasite that causes the tongues of fishes to atrophy, and then pretends to be that fish’s tongue for the rest of its life, robbing it of nutrition. That something like that even exists freaks me out. I think it’s the lack of control over your own body that does it for me. And it makes me wonder what is actually going on inside our skulls. And not in a good way.

Take a quick inventory. If all your body parts belong to you and cooperate, give thanks to the universe.

Cymothoa Exigua says hello.

Like the way my weird mind works? Then you’ll enjoy my book! http://amzn.to/2mlPVh5

7 responses to “Alien Hand Syndrome”

  1. cupitonians Avatar
    cupitonians

    That picture though!

    Reply
  2. lyn sutton Avatar
    lyn sutton

    Saw the 2012 movie The Bay a few years back because it used a mutated form of Cymothoa Exigua that infects humans. Yeah, my mind’s as twisted as yours but then I suffer from alien whole body syndrome. I never know what it’s up to until it’s too late… but hey, I don’t beat myself up about it. 🙂

    Reply
    1. The View from a Drawbridge Avatar
      The View from a Drawbridge

      And you’ve maintained your sense of humor, by God! 🙂

      Reply
      1. lyn sutton Avatar
        lyn sutton

        I’m just grateful not to be infested by the sacculina; a parasitic barnacle that hijacks a green crab’s ability to grow, digest, regenerate and reproduce. It feminizes the male host making him do the female mating dance and care for the sacculina’s progeny. A mutated form of this infecting humans would make a great syfy movie if only some creative writer would write the screenplay…hint, hint. 🙂

      2. The View from a Drawbridge Avatar
        The View from a Drawbridge

        Okay, that’s just scary. 🙂

  3. lyn sutton Avatar
    lyn sutton

    You have stumbled upon the answer to why the guy in the WH keeps tweeting such outrageous unpresidential attacks… alien hand with mind of it’s own. At least it’s more feasible than the official excuses given.

    Now if he can find a reason (other than a need to feed his ego) to justify asking states to divulge voter information. How will we trust our privacy is protected when participating in any election? This could be interpreted by some as an attempt to manipulate our democratic election process by instilling a fear of voting in non-trump voters. They’ll have to post a warning sign saying your vote may be held against you in the future.
    http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-voter-fraud-investigation-election-kris-kobach-2017-6 How will your state respond?
    Starting to lose my sense of humor…please help me regain it. 🙁

    Reply
    1. The View from a Drawbridge Avatar
      The View from a Drawbridge

      Let’s deport his alien hand. Or not let it back into the country next time it leaves. See how he likes it when he can only grope women half as much.

      Reply

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