Growing up with the name of Alice would naturally put me in a position to be very well versed in the story by Lewis Carroll of Alice in Wonderland. To say that, as a child, I was called Alice in Wonderland and teased unmercifully about this would be redundant! As an adult, going back and reading the beloved childhood novel, I found it amusing and curious as to how many times the author used his characters to display many forms of mental illness. Take this excerpt from the white rabbit, as Lewis Carroll touches on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder:
“It was the White Rabbit, trotting slowly back again, and looking anxiously about as it went, as if it had lost something; and she heard it muttering to itself `The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh my dear paws! Oh my fur and whiskers! She’ll get me executed, as sure as ferrets are ferrets! Where CAN I have dropped them, I wonder?'”
The White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a great example for anxiety, ADHD, OCD, etc. Rabbits are always anxious, their little bodies panting, their hearts running a million miles an hour, even while still. They’re made that way because they happen to be prey for many other creatures. Even pet rabbits have this constant fight or flight response, though there is no immediate threat. They are ready to run at a moment’s notice, darting anywhere and everywhere. It’s no wonder they can’t keep up with their gloves. This is why, of course, rabbits these days don’t wear them. Sorry, just a little dark humor on a very complex subject!
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland