The fear during these hypnagogic hallucinations is natural; you cannot control your fear during the hallucination because you are not awake and consciously in control of your thoughts. However, they are not a sign that you have a psychological disorder or a serious condition. These hallucinations are not uncommon at some point in your life on a transient basis. However, if you have hypnagogic hallucinations on a regular basis, you should seek medical care. A regular sleep schedule and healthier lifestyle should help eliminate hypnagogic hallucinations. Keep a sleep journal to record your hypnagogic hallucinations, and this will help you keep track of your situation and share it with a doctor if you seek help. If your hallucinations began after starting a new medication, tell your doctor immediately.

Hypnagogic hallucinations are what happens when a person is asleep but sees, hears or feels things and experiences them as real even though he or she is asleep. These dreams, which are actually waking dreams are quite frightening, which is why the most common hypnagogic hallucinations are a jerk awake when someone feels they are falling right before they fall asleep. Although hallucinations feel like dreams, they are not true dreams. Lack of sleep, illness, overdose of medication, erratic sleep patterns or the like can cause them.

They occur not during sleep but on the border between sleep and waking, when you are about to go to sleep or about to wake up. Hypnagogic hallucinations are quite vivid and seem unlike dreams, but completely real to the person experiencing them. Most people experience hypnagogic hallucinations occasionally, usually in the form of feeling we’re falling as we fall asleep. If you have more severe, more frequent hallucinations, you should consult your doctor about them.

Hypnagogia is a sleep disorder, and many people have this sleep disorder for many years without being aware that they have hypnagogic hallucinations. For many people, these hallucinations may seem like bad dreams, or they may worry that something is wrong with them, for instance that they are psychotic, or have some other psychiatric disorder. But these hallucinations are not a psychiatric disorder.

If you are experiencing something similar to these hallucinations and see a psychologist about sleep disorders they may think it is trauma related, but the most likely answer is that it is not. Hypnagogic hallucinations are not psychologically related at all, but are a sleep/wake cycle problem. They are a misfiring in the brain and are completely organic. It would be best to go to a local sleep center where you can be put under observation.

The following advice can help you minimize the effects of hypnagogic hallucinations:

1. Keep a regular sleep schedule and be careful to get enough sleep every night.

2. Control your stress. Relaxation activities such as meditation, deep breathing, yoga and the like can be very helpful in controlling stress.

3. Consult with your doctor as to whether your medications could be causing hallucinations.

4. Consider consulting a sleep specialist and having a sleep study done.

5. nderstand that these hallucinations are common and not a sign of a more serious disorder

6. Keep a sleep journal and track your symptoms to look for patterns.

Know that you are only one of many people who suffer these hypnagogic hallucinations and that it is a very common disorder.

Hypnagogic Hallucinations: What Are They?

Hypnagogic hallucinations are not dreams, but are like dreams; they are visions when you are asleep or about to fall asleep. During hypnagogic visions you see, hear and feel things that are not there. That is why hypnagogic hallucinations are called hallucinations. They occur during a state of consciousness that is officially known as hypnogogia, the transition from being awake to a state of sleep.

What Causes Hypnagogic Hallucinations?

Hypnagogic visions do not appear to be a sign of a serious disorder. Hypnagogic hallucinations can occur in anyone at any time. There are a number of possible causes for them. Lack of sleep or a disorderly sleep schedule can contribute, as these can cause problems leading to hallucinations. Drug overdose or medications can also cause hypnagogic visions.

Sleep disorders are a common link in hypnagogic hallucinations, but are not a definitive cause. These types of hallucinations also tend to run in families. It is a disorder of the sleeping and waking cycle. It is not a psychological disorder, though stress can contribute to these types of hallucinations. Hypnagogic hallucinations are not related to narcolepsy and do tend to get better with age. They are also not related to psychosis.

What are the Symptoms of Hypnagogic Hallucinations?

These hallucinations are frightening because your subconscious is in control and fools your mind into thinking that what it thinks you are seeing, feeling or hearing is real, when it is not. Because you have no way of fighting back or protecting yourself, this is terrifying.

The most common hypnagogic hallucinations are the feeling of falling. Most people experience this as a sudden kick or jerk when they’re about to fall asleep; this is a hypnagogic hallucination. But for other people, these hallucinations are much more severe. This includes the feeling that there is someone or something else in the room.

Many people actually hear people talking in the room around them during hypnagogic hallucinations, or may have conversations with others and know, on some level, that the person is not there, but not be able to wake up. Some people feel a presence of someone else in the room with them or feel that they are submerged in water. The common factor of all hypnagogic hallucinations is that they are terrifying and the person is unable to wake up.

Hypnagogia is basically a sleep/wake cycle disorder. You cannot wake up but are not completely asleep, so you see, feel and hear things that are not real, but your body is paralyzed and you are afraid. This is usually within the first couple of hours of falling asleep or after you have wakened and are going back to sleep. The terrifying thing is that you believe what you are experiencing, and you are unable to do anything about it.

Between Wakefulness and Sleep: Studying Hypnagogic Hallucinations

Hypnagogic hallucinations causes are brought by the half-sleep, half-awake state called hypnagogia. Other than hallucinations, hypnagogia is also characterized by sleep paralysis, seeing images, hearing sounds, or other situations that are notable to the sleeper’s senses.

Hypnagogia is a general term used to describe both the onset of sleep and the awakening from sleep. Further research established separate descriptions for both states; hence the terms hypnagogic hallucinations and hypnopompic hallucinations. Both refer to the same symptoms, but usually unidentifiable in cases of multiple sleeping and waking episodes.

Hypnagogic hallucinations causes can include several images. Most are geometrical in shape, linear, or merely speckles, popping into the sleeper’s mind. Some are trails of dreams induced by remarkable situations experienced by the person when in conscious state.

Even with the studies and researches on hypnagogic hallucinations and its associates, most people still prefer to give meaning to some situations and familiar symbols that are remembered by the sleeper upon awakening. This contributed to the vast categories of folklore, superstitions, prophecies, and even extraterrestrial involvements.

Hypnagogia may induce fear in people who find no rational meanings in the images reflected in the hypnagogic state. Even so, this state is said to have beneficial effects in the form of creative thoughts or ideas. Edgar Allan Poe even wrote about the things—he called them ‘fancies’—he experience while in between wakefulness and sleep. He called these experiences ‘pleasurable’ and able to provide glimpses into the spiritual nature.

Hypnagogic hallucinations causes pose no threat, and are not classified as disorders, except for narcolepsy possibilities. Sleep paralysis is the common concern with hypnagogia and this may also vary depending on the causes. There is no clear treatment or medication applied to avoid hypnagogic states exhibited by healthy people. Only proper information can help in ensuring a good night’s sleep.

Hypnopompic Hallucinations: Meaningful or Nonsense?

Hypnopompic hallucinations occur in the waking up stage of REM sleep. The term hypnopompic was used by Frederic Myers, a past leader and member of the Society for Psychical Research. The hypnopompic state is commonly associated with sleep paralysis and its other friend, hypnagogia.

Hypnopompic hallucinations are said to contain images or situations, mostly from the state of dreaming, that are confusing, frightening, or nonsensical in nature. These hallucinations can last from seconds to minutes, including the paralysis state, and causes panic for the person experiencing it.

In most cases, hypnopompic hallucinations are not life threatening. Some people easily attribute it as a nightmare, occurring due to sleeping in an above average physical tiredness. Upon waking up, the sleeper may be slow in reacting or remembering the details of the incident. Mumbling nonsense upon waking up from a REM sleep is called hypnopompic speech by Peter McKeller, a psychologist.

In the medical field, hypnopompic hallucinations may be symptoms of narcolepsy, especially when accompanied by frequent sleep paralysis.

The hypnopompic state is sometimes inserted with folklore stories. The theory of a ‘hag’ pressing down on the sleeping body had taken many variations from different countries. It is also said to be an aftermath of alien abduction or a warning of impending danger.

Most research had focused more on hypnagogia, the state between conscious to asleep, rather than the hypnopompic state. Hypnopompic hallucinations are mostly considered as natural effects of an REM sleep. If the cause is not a medical disorder, it is explained to be due to poor sleeping positions, stressful activities, excessive eating or alcoholic drinking before sleeping, or adjustments in a change of lifestyle. Instead of panicking and instilling fear, it’s advisable to research and find out information related to sleeping stages to figure out the next step to take.

CPAP Alternatives to Cure Sleep Apnea

There are people who suffer from sleep apnea. This is a condition where breathing is interrupted as they sleep at night. They would wake up as they choke due to the absence of air in their body. When this regularly happens, this can lead to a stroke and heart ailments. A device called continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been invented to treat sleep apnea. But because there are many people who do not like this machine, they go for other CPAP alternatives to cure their sleep apnea.

CPAP Alternatives – Changes in Lifestyle

The doctors would sometimes say that sleep apnea is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. If you drink too much alcohol, this narrows the airways thus relaxing the muscles in the throat and shutting the air passage when you sleep. Sometimes sleep apnea is due to obesity therefore you need to undergo a healthy diet to lose excess weight. The additional weight in your neck usually presses your air passage when you sleep thus relaxing your muscles and forbidding you to inhale. A lifestyle change is one of the most natural CPAP alternatives.

CPAP Alternatives – Mouth Fixtures

Mouth fixtures help treat sleep apnea based on studies made in the last ten years. This device makes the lower jaw move forward a little thus opening the airway and allowing oxygen to flow. This then gives uninterrupted sleep. Not everyone can use mouth fixtures though but for those who use it, their sleep has become better.

CPAP Alternatives – Surgery

For those who cannot stand CPAP and mouth fixtures and would really like to treat sleep apnea permanently, surgery is their option. Sleep apnea is caused by a blockage in the airway therefore it is important to remove permanently this blockage. Tonsils may be removed or implants may be placed in the throat so that the airway would remain open when the muscles there relax. Breathing dilemmas that result to sleep apnea may be caused by a deviated septum and this can be removed only by surgery.

To treat sleep apnea, try these CPAP alternatives in order to have a good night sleep always.

Inside a Sleeping Disorders List

There are many sleeping disorders that people experience. Insomnia is a popular sleeping disability but there are actually more in a sleeping disorders list. There are both mild and severe sleeping disorders and they are identified by a medical expert. Here are the sleeping disorders usually diagnosed.

Sleeping Disorders List – Sleep Apnea and Insomnia

Sleep apnea is when a person stops breathing as he sleeps. This stops him from taking in air thus he wakes up just to breathe. Insomnia on the other hand is failure to sleep.

Sleeping Disorders List – Narcolepsy and Restless Leg Syndrome

When a person fails to control his sleep even during the day, he is suffering from narcolepsy. This disorder also includes those who cannot control being awake. A person who suddenly experiences cramps, pulling or tingling in the legs as he sleeps, this is called restless leg syndrome. This disorder awakens them thus they have to move their legs to stop such pain and irritation.

Sleeping Disorders List – Hypersomnia and Rapid Eye Movement Behavior Disorder

When a person becomes too drowsy in the day even if he has had enough sleep, this is called hypersomnia. A person who performs his nightmares as he sleeps is suffering from Rapid Eye Movement Disorder.

Sleeping Disorders List – Nocturia, Sleepwalking, Hypopnea and Bruxism

When a person frequently urinates at night, this condition is called nocturia. When he acts out something he does in his sleep, he is suffering from sleepwalking. When he does not breathe deeply during his sleep, he is suffering from hypopnea. If he grinds his teeth or clenches his jaw, he is experiencing bruxism.

There are other sleeping disorders that people experience. These include sleep paralysis where he cannot move as he sleeps, snoring, cataplexy, parasomnia, nightmares, and jet lag especially if he has travelled on a plane, and delayed sleep phase syndrome.

If you suffer from any of these conditions in this sleeping disorder list, visit your doctor and get treatment.

Information about hypnagogic hallucinations will be added shortly!