hypnopompic hallucinations

[danivsdani]

i have had them for as long as i can remember. i've also had anxiety as long as i can remember. i'm not sure if these were the first occurrences but i remember my first panic attack when i was 7 (over death/dying) and coincidentally that's when i remember my first experience of these hallucinations. i remember waking up in the middle of the night and just screaming because i thought i saw something flying around the room. i have read that they can be related to anxiety. i was just wondering if any of you have these? how often? have you noticed a relation between them and anxiety? i have them all throughout the night and i have recurring ones as i am waking up that involve the end of the world and conspiracies and other really weird stuff. also when my health anxiety was really high i was waking up, seeing things, realizing i was seeing things and then panicking over the fact that i may have schizophrenia. those were really creepy because that's really close to my normal everyday thoughts so it was hard to tell rather i was actually sleeping at the time. they don't really bother me except that they can be frightening and i'm worried my heart won't be able to handle it sometimes. so yeah anyways i was just wondering about you guys experiences with these..

[miss polly]

I had to google this as I'd never heard of it. It sounds awful and very scary. I suffered from night terrors when I was very young and had my last proper one in my late teens. I still suffer from terrifying nightmares, but I don't think it's the same kind of thing as you experience.
Maybe it's because your anxiety is sky high ~ if you can get a handle on that then maybe the hallucinations will disappear.

[buffybot]

Hi

Sounds like you have some sort of sleep paralysis though in this condition people can not move. I think people with schizophrenia hear voices rather than see things. People say they are being abducted by aliens for example and it is so real to them though experts say it is all in the mind and perhaps you may have a kind of sleep paralysis.
Have you ever seen anyone about all this? you should talk to someone and they could give you the annwers you need so you can be sure of what you have rather than worrying about what you might have. The rest you speak of sounds like classic anxiety and panic attacks when really bad can cause hallucinations that is a medical fact. If you have not seen anyone please do they may give you medications etc. You really need a diagnosis just in case there is a physical possibilty for your problems they will give you blood test for example to rule this out.

Hope you get the answers you need soon so take care..

Brent :)

[Carys]

Ahha, I know what you are talking about and the name given to it, as found out about it a few years ago. I have had a few instances of this happening in the last 15 years, and my husband will vouch for how real they clearly are to me, I have woken the entire household by sitting up in bed screaming at the top of my voice !! :roflmao:

They are not nightmares as my eyes are always wide open and I am 'awake' in that I can see the bedroom around me. However I don't move and although entirely aware of everything and 'awake' I feel as if I am 'stuck' mentally. Often mine have taken the form of a lit-up menacing person coming towards me and leaning over the bed, getting closer and closer. I can see their face, I could describe them, what they are wearing...and just as they go to 'attack' me, a few centimetres from my face, I scream and scream and it seems to get me out of the hallucination.....and nearly gives my husband a coronary. Poor man wakes up hyperventilating almost as much as I am LOL. It is so incredibly real, because my eyes are open and I am aware of my surroundings it is as if a nightmare has fused with reality. Does that make sense ?

I did have sleep paralysis a few times in my early 20s, so thought this was possibly related ?

I've never linked it to periods of high anxiety, but I bet it could be. :winks: Mine aren't that regular, maybe only a dozen times a year, but when they happen they seem to be in clusters, say three nights in a row. How often are yours ?

[danivsdani]

haha oh nooo i wrote a reply to this and i wasn't logged in.

thanks for the replies guys!

miss polly - they're not as bad as they seem. as they're happening they can be pretty frightening but afterwards they can be quite hilarious and nonsensical. my reaction most of the time is to just stare at what i'm seeing in disbelief. "is that stuffed bear looking at me?! oh wow it is!" then boom i'm right back asleep.

buffybot - i've had sleep paralysis maybe twice before but i didn't have any hallucinations while it was happening. when these hallucinations happen i can talk and move. i've paced around the whole house before thinking i was dead. i've been all the way in the kitchen before i realized i was awake before as well. i do want to go to a sleep lab one day when i can afford it or work up the courage to leave the house with my agoraphobia and all. i'm just certain though that i wouldn't be able to fall asleep because of stage fright or they wouldn't happen! i mentioned them one time to a therapist who was testing me for social anxiety and she didn't seem concerned. and i'm sorry i may have written it wrong i don't have them in my normal everyday life just as i'm waking up or in the middle of the night.

carys - that does make sense to me! it's like your body is awake before your brain is. they weren't always so frequent but for a long time now i've been having them every single night several times a night. this is why i think they're anxiety related. my anxiety skyrocketed this year.

i've had them all my life i'm not too worried about them. i've heard they're pretty common and i've even witnessed my sister having them. she'll wake up eyes wide open and say "THERE'S A SPIDER ON MY PILLOW!!!!!" and throw the thing around. she doesn't remember them a lot though.

the only serious conditions they're associated with are narcolepsy and dementia. i don't have any other symptoms that match up with those. it's said that sometimes they're from a brainstem abnormality but that's very rare so i'm not worried about that usually. my health anxiety gets me sometimes and convinces me otherwise but for the most part i don't think they're caused by anything too serious.

i also never sleep until i am DEAD tired and am going to fall asleep rather i like it or not. i've never been one of those people who can just decide i'm going to sleep right now. i know that sleep issue is anxiety for sure. when i try to go to sleep on purpose i think about awful things and just spring back up! i wonder if this could be the cause.