How can a Normal understand what it feels like to turn my head and suddenly feel like the floor has smashed violently into my face?
A
couple of years ago I experienced something that turned my world upside down. I mean that literally (and I mean literally literally). I experienced vertigo. Specifically benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.
I personally have a huge issue with the inclusion of the word “benign”, just because something isn’t going to kill you doesn’t mean it’s not going to make you feel like you might die. Trying to explain BPPV makes me sound like a spiritual healer, because it happens when tiny crystals in your inner ear shift out of place. Yes, tiny crystals. The shifting of the tiny crystals tells your brain that your body is tumbling in space, but in a fun twist – it isn’t. The earth can suddenly and completely jolt off its axis while you are standing still, let alone turning your head.
The power these tiny crystals have to mess up your life, not to mention your physical perspective, is unbelievable. I’d compare it to when you’re so drunk the room is jumping and spinning (assume we’ve all been there), combined with a theme park ride where you suddenly get turned upside down and your stomach drops to your throat. For this reason, discovering other people who have it and understand it is so validating it brings a tear to the (involuntarily moving) eye.
