Hypnagogic Hallucinations

[Pierce]

Description

Hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations are visual, tactile, auditory, or other sensory events, usually brief but occasionally prolonged, that occur at the transition from wakefulness to sleep (hypnagogic) or from sleep to wakefulness (hypnopompic). The person may hear sounds that are not there and see visual hallucinations. These visual and auditory images are very vivid and may be bizarre or disturbing.

Hypnagogic Hallucinations

Anyone else get this? I have for a few years now, and it is pretty interesting to say the least. I believe some nights I don't get it and other nights I do, its wierd. When I do get them though, it can be pretty scary.

I've noticed that I go through cycles. Sometimes for a week straight, I will have the same hallucination before falling asleep. After that it would change to something else...

The hallucinations seem pretty real, I dont really get the auditory ones, but for some reason when I am half asleep I will open my eyes and look around. Sometimes I will see things crawling up the walls, crawling into my bed, people standing in the corner of the room, the walls dripping. The same thing always happens though; I become afraid. Even if I know that it is a hallucination, I cannot calm my body down until I physically wake myself up and try to relax. Sometimes, something will freak me out enough to the point where I have fled from my room half asleep The hallucinations probably only last a minute or two, but its very bizarre.

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone here gets something like this. I know it can be linked to narcolepsy, but I don't have that.

[Lokius]

Holy **** you have a serious problem if you see the walls drip and people are standing in your room before you sleep...

[Kasma]

Thats would seriously make my piss myself. I'd be REALLY terrified

[HeLLMuTT]

I get those while I'm wide awake... We call em flashbacks and I do get pretty nervous when they hit.

I won't even talk about my dreams.

[hoboman]

I know how you feel...

I was once sleeping at someone else's house, on the couch, when I looked over towards the corner of the room, and there was an 8 or 9 foot tall robed figure standing there. I saw it, so I blinked, rubbed my eyes, turned around and turned back, and it was still there, robe fluttering and all. I was so completely petrified by it that all I could do was turn away and shut my eyes, and hope that it wasn't real...

Next morning, and the rest of the nights I was there, I never saw anything remotely like it.

Then theres the stuff I see when I'm DREAMING... don't even get me started...

Here's a super-short summary of one of my more recent dreams: Asari from Mass Effect does that thing where their eyes turn black and they like meld with your mind, except she sucked out my soul, then left me half dead, only to let a ZOMBIE-asari-demon-thing... come and suck out what was left of my soul, then stab me in the hip with her bare hands...

... I woke up with extremely intense pain in the exact spot where I was "stabbed". The skin was even red...

[Vyndara]

I used to get the auditory ones. Swear someone was shouting at me.
"HEY!"
"MUMMY!!"
"WAKE UP NOW!"
I think it was stress related cause I haven't had them in a while.

[Pierce]

Pretty crazy stuff.

I think i read though that they can be brought on by irregular sleep schedules or changing in sleeping habits.

I've noticed though that they seem to occur more often on the nights where I am doing something mentally or physically stimulating right before I jump in bed.

Last night I tried meditating for half an hour before getting in bed and I do not remember having a hallucination, will try it again tonight.

[Resistance]

Originally Posted by HeLLMuTT

I get those while I'm wide awake... We call em flashbacks and I do get pretty nervous when they hit.

I won't even talk about my dreams.

Hahaha, that explains it.

[Earcar]

I only get hallucinations when I have a high fever, and nothing like walls dripping. One time I thought my pillow was a cinder block, so I couldn't put my head on it. Another time I thought that there was a universe or tiny orange men on my bed that liked to join up in tiny spheres. the only scary part of that was when I saw about a billion of them together. Or sometimes I mistake something for another as I'm falling asleep. Like if I put my knee against one of those airplane armchairs, I think its a chick squeezing my knee. But nothing like yours...

[Lethos]

Hmmm strange affliction - and kind of fascinating. I wonder what would cause such an onset at this point in your life (last few years)