This creatively named disorder occurs during the onset of deep sleep, when the person is suddenly startled awake by a sharp, loud noise. These noises range from cymbals crashing to explosives going off. To the person hearing them, the explosions seem to originate either from right next to the person's head or inside the skull itself. There's no pain involved, and no danger, either. Doctors don't know what causes exploding head syndrome, but they do know that it isn't associated with any serious illness.
This is only one of the ten disorders listed. Sleep well tonight! Link -via Digg
When I was young I would dream and half wake and think I was seeing my mom go over my homework.
Now I knew it wasn't happening but it did.
Very rarely happens now thank goodness, as it sometimes is too real.
The insomnia has been all my life and I prefer cat naps now. I don't feel tired from lack of sleep or the disorientation I used to suffer before.
For those of you that get sleep paralysis, let me share something I learned at the sleep clinic. Focus all your attention on trying to move one small part of your body. I usually focus on the fingers of my right hand. Try to remain calm and remember that as soon as you start to move that part of your body, everything else will follow and you will be awake almost instantly. This is not always easy because for some people (like me), the hallucinations are very vivid and insanely terrifying. That's because the part of your brain that deals with fear is firing away like crazy. I've never felt fear like that in real life. Usually I'm hallucinating that some evil creature is crawling up from under the bed and grabbing me. Or that something malevolent is coming up the stairs toward my bedroom. And I can't move. With practice I've been able to wake myself using the above method.
I can look down and see the book resting against me, the same room I'm actually in and all the surroundings. But then I wake up.
Weird but not unpleasant in the least.
For me I always think I may be hearing someone trying to break down the front door or jiggling the doorknob. Like I said, I'm more or less awake in my mind but I can't move and I have trouble focusing my listening to determine whether I'm really hearing it or it's just a hallucination aspect. For me trying to wake up never works and trying to focus my listening never works, I'm completely paralyzed. the only thing that works is to completely relax and try to go back to sleep, it'll often go away not too long after that. I think the act of "trying" to do anything actually prolongs the paralysis because that's what the paralysis is there to do in the first place, keep you from acting out your dreams.
I've also woken up, standing in my bedroom, and I had no idea where I was.
I once had a dream that I woke up and got out of bed and was walking around my apartment, but I was getting frustrated because I was looking for the light switch, but couldn't find it. It wasn't there.
At night, I have my blinds closed. Always. One morning, I woke up and they were wide open. I freaked out. It felt like someone had been there while I was asleep and opened them. Everyone said I must have done it while asleep. I don't sleepwalk. That's never happened before and it hasn't happened since.
In sleep paralysis studies, individuals often report a feeling of another presence. I don't know what causes it but it's not uncommon, which may or not be comforting. :) I get that too, like when I think there's people outside my front door, trying to get in.
The oly thing that really helps is to have as much a stressless life as possible with lots of excercise, without the use of chemicals, pills, powders or drugs.