Hypnagogic hallucinations: what they are and what they can be a symptom of

Hallucinations are all those perceptions that, despite not being based on real stimuli, make us see, hear, or even feel by touch. In the case of hypnagogic hallucinations, these occur at night., and are not directly related to organic-type disorders.

In this article we will review the concept of this type of hallucinations, as well as their causes and most relevant characteristics in terms of its symptoms, which usually occur while trying to reconcile the dream.

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What are hypnagogic hallucinations?

Hypnagogic hallucinations are unusual in that they occur only during the transitory process from the waking state to the sleeping state, specifically in first and second phase of sleep (REM). This means that they happen when we find ourselves trying to fall asleep at night.

These hallucinations are often related to experiences lived by the subject during the previous day, and the most common are auditory and visual. They can be hallucinations of any kind; visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, or even tactile.

They usually occur in the young stages of development, when the subject is in childhood and during adolescence. They are less frequent during adulthood, where under natural conditions, it is normal for them to have completely disappeared. However, there may be exceptions, in which case they could be considered as indicators of neurotic or psychotic pathologies.

These types of hallucinations are, in many cases, the explanation for the "paranormal experiences" that some people report having felt during hours of the night, in which they tried to reconcile the sleep.

Not to be confused with hypnopompic hallucinations, which occur during the transition process between the sleep state and the waking state, that is, they are exactly the opposite of the hypnagogic ones.

It could also happen that the subject knows that what he is feeling at that moment is not real; in such a case, it would then be a pseudohallucination.

Causes

This class of hallucinations usually occurs in isolation in people, depending on the stage of development in which the subject is. As we have already mentioned above, are common in childhood and adolescence, moment in which human beings still do not have fully established logical-rational thinking, and the one that still prevails is magical-religious thinking.

During these young stages of life, these hallucinations can be attributed to those fantasies and beliefs of the respective ages (between 6 and 17 years).

In the most repetitive cases, when these hallucinations are repeated frequently, they could be caused by some specific sleep disorders. For example, the well-known sleep paralysis.

If it happens that the intensity of the hypnagogic hallucinations is more severe, could be one of the symptoms of narcolepsy (excessive sleep during the day). However, this type of hallucination is not considered pathological when it occurs in isolation.

In adult life they could occur once without being considered as an indicator of any disorder. If, on the other hand, if the prevalence is significant, exactly in the cases where they occur for a long period of time, a specialist (neurologist or psychiatrist) should be consulted.

The doctor will be the one who performs the necessary tests to detect the possible origin of the hallucinations. Under normal circumstances, these experiences do not last more than twenty seconds, and upon awakening the subject does not usually remember them.

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How are they prevented?

The prevention of these hallucinations involves taking into account several factors related to their origin, which means that it must have been determined what causes them to proceed to prevent them in a specific way for each circumstance.

Let's start with the most common causes: excessive tiredness caused by not having adequate sleep routines. When this is the cause, what is recommended is to distribute the time better. The idea is that you can go to sleep at a reasonable hour and get a restful sleep between 6 and 8 o'clock (in the case of adults).

Anxiety and the consumption of some substances can also generate these nocturnal hallucinations.

Particularly when the cause is anxiety, relaxation techniques before bed work quite well. These include specific ways of breathing to reduce anxiety levels and be able to fall asleep better.

Regarding the consumption of certain substances, prevention involves abandoning said consumption, or else the hypnagogic hallucinations will persist or they could even intensify depending on what the substance is or if the person goes on to consume another that has a more powerful effect for their organism.

Finally, when hypnagogic hallucinations are caused by a sleep disorder, then its treatment and prevention go through the same of the specific disorder that the patient is suffering from. subject.

Bibliographic references:

• Germaine, A., Nielsen, T.A. (1997). Distribution of spontaneous hypnagogic images across Hori's EEG stages of sleep onset. SleepResearch. 26: 243.
• Nielsen, T., Germain, A., Ouellet, L. (1995). Atonia-signaled hypnagogic imagery: Comparative EEG mapping of sleep onset transitions, REM sleep, and wakefulness. SleepResearch. 24: 133.