Do strange images of geometric shapes, people or animals appear out of nowhere as you lie in bed at night? Perhaps you’ve heard voices or noises which can’t possibly be real?
If so, it could be that you’ve experienced what’s known as sleep hallucinations.
Despite leading to the occasional leap out of bed in sheer terror, they are usually harmless. And many people experience them at some point in their lives – including me.
My nocturnal flying geometric manifestations
As a child, multicolored geometric shapes would regularly swoop across my bedroom, just as I was drifting off to sleep. I remember simultaneously marveling at them and wishing them away so I could sleep in peace.
It doesn’t happen so often nowadays, but once in a while, I’m still prone to my mathematical manifestations.
Perhaps I should be grateful for my geeky hallucinations – especially compared to the disturbing experiences some people have.
What are sleep hallucinations?
Sleep hallucinations are imaginary experiences that happen during the transition between being awake and asleep, and can feel confusingly real.
They are also referred to as hypnagogic hallucinations if they occur while you’re falling asleep, or hypnopompic hallucinations if they happen while waking up.
The hallucinations are usually visual, such as seeing shapes or figures in the dark. But they can also involve your other senses.
The hallucinations can be vivid and frightening in some cases. If you see a giant creature in your room or hear a scary voice, it’s understandable that some people will jump out of bed and turn the light on to check what’s going on!
How many people have sleep hallucinations?
A commonly quoted statistic in medical articles comes from research conducted in 1996. The team interviewed 4972 people in the United Kingdom by telephone. They found that 37% had experienced hypnagogic hallucinations. And 12.5% had experienced hypnopompic hallucinations.
In 2000, another team of researchers surveyed 13,057 people and found that 38.7% had experienced hallucinations at some point during the day or night. 24.8% of the sample had experienced hallucinations at sleep onset, and 6.6% upon waking.
A sign of Narcolepsy
For some people, sleep hallucinations can be a sign of narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder which involves sudden daytime episodes of:
- Unexpectedly falling asleep
- Sleep paralysis
- Hypnagogic hallucinations
If you have these symptoms, it’s important to seek medical advice.
Symptoms
The main symptom is seeing or hearing things while falling asleep or waking up that aren’t real.
Researchers believe that the most common type of hallucination is visual. However, it’s possible to experience hallucinations that correspond to any of your senses:
- Visual – such as geometric patterns, shapes or light flashing. Sometimes complex forms like animals or people.
- Auditory – voices talking, phone or doorbell ringing, music, hissing, humming or whistling.
- Olfactory – pleasant or unpleasant smells.
- Tactile – insects crawling on the skin, rubbing, stroking, tapping or tickling sensations. Perhaps also feeling weightless, distortions in the body, flying.
Not the same as nightmares
Telling the difference between dreaming and hallucinating isn’t always obvious in the moment. But sleep hallucinations are not the same as nightmares.
When you wake up from a nightmare, you’ll know you were asleep (even if it takes a little while to come back to reality).
Sleep hallucinations, however, can feel like they are really happening. You know you’re awake, but you’re not convinced it’s merely your imagination playing tricks on you.
Coexisting with sleep paralysis
Sleep hallucinations sometimes happen during an episode of sleep paralysis.
During sleep paralysis, you might be unable to move your body in bed, which in itself is often frightening.
The hallucinations that accompany it can range from seeing a presence in the room to seeing and feeling a creature sitting on you.
Causes
The International Classification of Sleep Disorders manual suggests two causes related to brain function, though also states that more research is needed:
- An intrusion of dream imagery onto wakefulness.
- A lack of stimulus leading to the visual cortex in the brain creating images.
Health websites, such as healthline.com, suggest that sleep hallucinations can be caused by other conditions, such as:
- Sleep disorders like narcolepsy or sleep paralysis
- A medical condition or medication use
- A mental health disorder, such as schizophrenia
- Substance abuse
Risk factors
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, they are more common in children and young adults. Women might experience them slightly more often than men.
Some factors are thought to increase the likelihood or severity of the hallucinations, including:
- Drug or alcohol use
- Anxiety or stress
- Mood disorders like bipolar disorder or depression
- Insomnia
- Epileptic seizures
Research shows that fragmented sleep is associated with more hallucinations
In 2021, a team of researchers published an interesting study of sleep hallucinations (you can read it in full on nature.com).
Based on an online survey of 10,299 people, they found that poor sleep is associated with the occurrence of hallucinations – a point already confirmed by previous studies.
However, they further showed that fragmented sleep, i.e. regular wakings, is related to hallucinations. And that fragmented sleep is also related to the content, frequency, duration, and associated distress.
Interestingly then, people who had better sleep had less negative and less disruptive hallucinations when they did have them.
So the more you have them, the worse they might be. It seems to me to be a good motivation to tackle any factors you know that make you wake up more often in the night.
Treatment
Do you need to see a doctor?
If you’re experiencing anxiety or losing sleep because of regular sleep hallucinations, it’s a good idea to speak to a doctor or sleep specialist.
They would ask you about your hallucinations and look at your medical history and other factors like medication and lifestyle. They might decide that an overnight sleep study is needed to find out more.
They would also look at the possibility of another condition causing the episodes. And if they find one, give you the appropriate treatment.
Worried about your mental health?
If you suddenly start having hallucinations, it’s understandable that you might question your mental health. This is a point I’ve seen raised in the comments below many times, so you wouldn’t be alone in thinking something was ‘wrong’ with you.
It’s worth noting that if it only ever happens when you’re in bed trying to sleep, there’s a good chance it’s harmless sleep hallucinations. Perhaps it’s a sign you’re under a lot of stress lately, for example, but it might not be an indicator that something is wrong beyond that.
Having said that, if you have hallucinations during the day, or other symptoms that are making you feel anxious or confused about your mental health, then it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor. And if you’re still not convinced the nighttime hallucinations are benign, talk to your doctor to get a professional opinion.
If this line of thinking feels relevant to you, there’s a good article on psychologytoday.com in which a clinical psychologist talks a patient having sleep problems rather than a schizophrenic illness.
What can you do to help reduce them?
Here are some ideas which might help keep the hallucinations at bay:
- Get an adequate amount of sleep every night. Try to stick to a regular sleep schedule and don’t allow yourself to become sleep deprived.
- Avoid recreational drugs.
- Eat a healthy diet and drink plenty of water.
- Try to reduce your stress levels.
- Try using a soft night light in the bedroom. This might help fill the space that your brain uses as a blank canvas.
- If you tend to have auditory hallucinations, listening to music, radio or a podcast in bed might help.
- If you find yourself focusing on visual hallucinations, try to re-focus your mind on something else. Breathing exercises or muscle relaxation can keep your brain occupied.
- If it’s overwhelming, turn on a light and get up for a while, do an activity you find relaxing, and then try to sleep again after 10-15 minutes.
- Several readers have said in the comments below that wearing a sleep mask helps them.
Hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations are a normal part of life for many people. Once you’ve ruled out any serious illness or disorder, you’re left to deal with the experience in two ways.
First, try to adapt your lifestyle to make sure you do everything possible to sleep well. Second, relax and try not to worry about things that go bump in the night.
Your thoughts
Do you ever experience hallucinations when falling asleep or waking up? What form do they take?
Feel free to describe your experience in the comments below and share any ideas you have about dealing with them.
I usually experience dreaming before I actually go to sleep, nothing terrifying but as I am laying in bed with my eyes closed thinking my thoughts will turn into random images in my mind, I usually know this and can pull myself back into reality if I want or just drift into sleep, nothing terrible. I’m had instances of sleep paralysis a few times throughout my life but it hasn’t happened to me in years. (I’m 34 years old) This past Sunday I was in bed all day, napping and waking on an off. I think I was in one my dreaming before I actually go to sleep phases when I tried to snap myself out of it. I was lying on my side looking at my window and I saw a small creature making its way up the back of the curtain, (they are black out curtains but sunlight creates some light through the back) I was paralyzed as I tried to move but realize that I couldn’t. I couldn’t make out what the creature was at first my mind thought a small fish but my eyes were awake and I the curtain was blowing from the fan I had facing the window. As it continued to make it’s way up I realized it was a mouse. I was panicking and trying to move it felt like my body was twitching but I couldn’t move as I tried desperately to lift my head from the pillow. The creature eventually made it to the top crawled down the front of the curtain, it was definitely a baby mouse. (I am terrified of them) I kept trying to move with no avail. I could also hear the TV on in the background (I was watching a Crime Documentary and was fully aware they we’re talking about computer hacking) The mouse eventually made its way all the way down the curtain and what appeared to be a daddy long leg spider was now crawling down the curtain. My phone was under my body and it buzzed which “snapped” me out of the paralysis. I jumped up sweating and out of breath, breathing hard and disheveled. My straps on my nightshirt were down. I ran out of the room terrified. In my other episodes of sleep paralysis I’ve never “seen” anything which made me think the “mouse and spider” sighting were real. I’m having a hard time knowing what I say was real or not because mice and spiders are common normal creatures. I’ve never had mice in my house but every morning for the past week I’ve been seeing mice and big giant squirrel sized rodents running down the street. I Googled sleep paralysis and came across this that talks about hallucinations,. I’m trying to reassure myself that it was a hallucination but also terrified because now I think I have a mouse in the house and possibly more. Haven’t slept well the past few days because I think a mouse is gonna crawl in the bed with me. I would have been more assured it was a hallucination if it were an alien or demon but this is creepy and stressing me out.
I wake up and see things in my room, it’s usually big spiders and sometimes ghosts. It’s very disturbing. My partner says I talk in my sleep a lot. I fall asleep constantly every time I sit and relax during the day
I remember the first one I got was on a holiday in africa. I was taking medicine to prevent malaria. It’s recommended by doctors to take it if you go on a holiday where there are risks. I discovered that one of the side effects of this medicine is having vivid dreams. I have talked to several other people that have experienced the same after using this medicine (Strange isnt it)
So the first one I got was this one:
I woke up and saw a big truck comming my way. It was comming right towards me. I was a big truck, and the lights of the truck where on. It was comming straight at me with enormous speed. I was just screeming in terror because I knew it would hit me.
And one time I woke up and I saw a dog in my bed wanting to poop. So I wanted the dog out of my bed because I obviously dont want poop in my bed. (I was awake, but think my brain was still asleep, and I dont have pets) then the dog just dissapeared.
The strange thing with this one is that day I went to a friends house and she took me to a friend of her I did not know. She had the same breed of dog. (The exact dog I saw in my “dream” wile being awake) I was sitting on the sofa and the dog came and sit my me. And then the owner screems “stop, dont!” Because the dog wanted too poop on the sofa. And then at that moment I remembered my “dream”
And one time I woke up seeing bent over me and looking straight in my face. It was a woman and her face was green. I was not afraid. And than she dissapeared.
When I was a small child,I would sometimes get frightened to shut my eyes to sleep because I would see a tiny spot that would grow and grow and became like a large convex round shape coming towards me,still growing until I felt like I was suffocating!! I would wake myself up,open my eyes and try to stay awke so that I wouldn’t have to experience it again!!
I have something very similar which is why I came across this page looking for answers. I get the feeling of the walls closing in on me until I can literally feel them right in front of my face and can’t breathe. Like you it makes me try to stay awake to not have to experience it, it’s awful. These days I have to be on the verge of passed out exhaustion before I can sleep as it disturbs me so much.
For a few months I experienced that exact thing every night. I always thought it looked like an eye staring at me. Mine was a result of an MDMA overdose and generally bad mental health though.
I’m almost 70 years old and I have been having hallucinations when I wake up 4 years.. usually it shapes and colors but it also has been animals and people. The people come at me but if I close my eyes V they disappear. When I open my eyes again I see something else. Very upsetting. I’m glad I’m not the only one
I’m a 19 year old girl and for the past three months have been seeing various images: silhouette of people, eyes on the wall, writings and very often see this mat of matter (ranging from sharp object to green things) inches away from my body. This has frightened me to tears and disturbs my sleep.
I’ve started wearing an eye mask to avoid looking, but when I forget to do so, I see things again.
Should go see a doctor for this?
Yes, it sounds very unpleasant and your doctor should at least look into possible means of addressing it.
I would like to say I’m glad I found this website and if my story has happened to I would appreciate the response. My second earliest memory is me laying in a baby bed beside my parents bed and in the dark I see this horrid something in the corner of the room. I could not move anything but my eyes could not scream. A fear that still follows me to the day and I’m 42. I am not the only one that has witnessed it’s presence. I am not asleep. I felt that same fear for many years when it was present. I do not fear as much now that I’m older. If anyone has this experience I would like to hear from you.
Hi Chee
Have a read of the article about sleep paralysis, as it might have been that!
Regards
Ethan
I am a 27 year old male as well have had this phenomenon happen to me since I can remember, it can be very prominent at times and seem to mostly go away at times, seems to.happen to me when im not sleeping my normal work schedule hours or I am aburptly woke up. I worked graveyard shift for nearly four years and it happened almost every time I laid down and woke up from sleep. I had a extremely terrifying LSD trio at the age of 18 and had it worst then I had my whole life for a couple.years after that. It’s typically geometric patterns that seem to breathe and have light coming out of them. They used.to.scare me but now actually wish they would happen more often, being as how they have mostly disappeared for the first time in my life this past year, maybe it’s cuz of my new spiritual practice (mantra mediation) I see them.as a gift bow they are so beautiful remind me of sri yantras etc.
Ha! I knew I wasn’t crazy! I’m 66. Seeing a spider running across my pillow has happened occasionally for many many years. Fools me every time. I swat it away, jump up, turn on the light to search for it, then, during the futile search, it always dawns on me that it must have been a ‘dream’, ‘cause I couldn’t have seen that much detail in the dark. But now I’m seeing way different stuff in addition to the occasional spider on the pillow. Two memorable ones follow.
1) I awoke during the night and slowly opened my eyes. Much to my shock there was a guy a few steps away from me in the corner of my room, who was running full tilt towards me! He passed right through me, my bed and the wall behind me and was gone so fast I barely had time to gasp in surprise. I did not feel or hear or smell anything. I realized that he had been running in a race somewhere ‘cause he was wearing racing clothes and a number. He was not running “at” me, and was not even aware of me or my surroundings. In fact, he was not running at the same height as my room. He was running a few feet below my bedroom floor; like he was in a different plane/dimension than me. It was like a hologram! He meant me no harm. I was just so incredibly startled by it.
2) Less dramatic….. I woke up during the night and saw a strange blue round/oval object, larger than a baseball, smaller than a basketball, almost at ceiling height, slowly moving across the room towards the corner. It was like a puffer fish thing and it was propelling itself with small very fast moving ‘fins’ at its sides. Didn’t see a face or anything. I thought, “What the hell is THAT?” I knew I was awake and really seeing this thing, but I also knew that it was impossible. I watched and figured it would disappear when it reached the corner. So, without looking away from it, for fear it would disappear, I reached for my phone on the nightstand so I could take a picture. Just before it got to the corner, I snuck a quick glance toward the nightstand to help find the phone and, when I looked right back, the thing was gone. Not that I would have gotten a picture of it anyway, I guess.
Hi, My name is Zoya and I’m 23 years old. I feel lucky to have ended up reading this article in just the right time. I was on the verge of believing that either my house is haunted or I myself am haunted and need to go to a Holy person to check up on me. This happened the first time when I was about 16-17 years old. Those days I was really upset and used to cry a lot. My father has passed away a three years earlier and it only got worse with time. I used to feel lonely more often at this age and depressed. I was lying on the bed, comfortably sleeping in an awkward position as I always do when suddenly I was awake and couldn’t open my eyes. I was sleeping literally in an “X” shaped position with my arms and legs wide open and something was holding both my wrists and both my ankles. I also felt a lot of weight on my chest and I couldn’t even scream or move an inch. The room was totally dark. The window and curtain both were open but even my neighbour’s lights were off so the room was completely dark. It was 2-3am in the night. I am Muslim, so I started to call Allah for help in my heart and could feel the tears flow through my eyes even when there was no way that I could open them. I started reciting a dua (prayer) from the Holy Quran in my heart and suddenly the next door neighbour’s backyard light turned on, the thing that was holding me down went away that instant and I could finally get up. I was too scared to tell anyone in the house and thought they’ll think I’ve gone crazy.
Until it happened again when I was 21 and this time it was here to stay. It happened so frequently that I find myself being pressed down the chest twice a week. Unable to move, speak or open my eyes until this thing took am shape and I started seeing a man (only a black shadow, an outline of a man filled with black color) standing beside the bed holding me down with some power and it would go away as soon as I was free to move and open my eyes again. I would wake up crying and so damn scared that I won’t sleep the rest of the night or atleast the next 3 hours. I was so afraid of me bed that I started sleeping on a mattress on the floor until it happened again and this time the man was not only standing at a distance but also bent over me right in front of my face. He said he was the angel of death and was here to take me with him. When I opened my eyes I was staring in the same direction, lying in the same position and it was freaking real I can never forget it.
I never told anyone until one day when my mom said she had experienced something pushing down her chest causing her body to paralyze. My sister was in the room as well and she told a similar experience from last night. All three of us were shocked to have been experiencing the same thing being scared to death on frequent nights and were too afraid to tell each other!!
We called a known and trusted Holy person who is Muslim and also a professor at a well-known university here in the city. If there was a demon in the house, he would know and we would believe him, but he told us that the house is absolutely fine. He examined the house and got to know that none of us are possessed and we don’t need spiritual help. He even told us that he had a similar experience once when he was sleeping on a roof of a house and saw a woman wearing heels coming towards him. He told us about sleep paralysis and the hallucinations, and that our mind was playing games with us. Honestly, I didn’t believe him right away because It felt so real and I had suffered a lot being scared to death, but eventually I did. I believed him and also googled the symptoms. I had never gone through an article as informative as this one though. Also, the people sharing their stories is really helpful and comforted my heart. Thanks a lot!
I am a 69 year old woman and have experienced hypnopompic visual and auditory issues. This started about a year ago and I find myself very sleepy if I don’t get a minimum of 10 hours of sleep. I actually find them pretty entertaining and they always end when I switch on a lamp. I have had warthogs on my bed and peasant ladies offer me grapes, etc. Oh, and blue lacy jellyfish swimming through my bedroom. Aging is a hoot.
I am 47 years old I have been having hypnagogic since as long as remember. The first one I happened when I was around 8 years saw a lady with her hands on a little girl shoulders by bed this was right after my aunt died I assumed it was her told my mom and she thought it was non sense. Fast forward to now I have been seeming these weird clear figures in detail when I awake at not, they are colorful except the man figured made out of glass, last night I saw a beautiful white Siberian tiger colorful I could see every detail in my dark room, I blinked he was still there and wouldn’t leave so I just went back to sleep. I really wished these would go away. I am always seeing things and spirits lives in my house.. my life
I have had sleep hallucinations since I was young, but in the past 8 years they have picked up (ever since moving into new apartment). I have always had the hallucination of spiders, either on the wall, crawling across my pillow, or falling from the ceiling toward my face. When the hallucinations increased in the new apartment, it expanded to include a person peaking around the corner, water coming down the walls, shapes or bugs moving on the walls, and the ever present spider coming down from the ceiling. I now sleep with my bedside lamp on because I get so freaked out by these hallucinations. Most of the time they happen when I can’t seem to fall asleep, so taking something like ZQuill helps me fall asleep faster.
I am a 25 year old male with moderate stress levels, a tight schedule and a lack of sleep. Last night I was in bed and had woken up about 3 am, with my fiance next to me. I went to get closer and there was what I perceived to be another man in my bed. I was awake throughout this experience. I reached out to touch my fiance and everything felt normal to me, curves and familiar markers on the face, but this man kept staring back at me. I spoke and a mans voice spoke back and I began to panic slightly. I rubbed my eyes, shook my head and looked again, with no change in the form that appeared in front of me. I reached out to touch hair and again, everything felt normal, so at this point, I knew I was hallucinating but the image just wouldn’t go away. At this point I panic, because I cannot make sense of this phenomenon. This figure sits up and asks me whats wrong and I reply with a “Get out of my head!” with a very alarmed tone and yet, this visage in front of me is still unfamiliar. And whats more is that I sensed others in the house, people I knew and some I didn’t. There were so many different voices, both familiar and strange. I don’t remember what happens next, because at this point I think I fall back asleep with no fight.
Have you tried asking what they wanted to try to get rid of them? It sounds like, if you fell back asleep after all this then maybe you were having a vivid dream, which I get upon occasion, just close your eyes, when you rule out it not being real, and say to yourself that you are dreaming. It works for me.
I’m 24 years old and this happens regularly to me. It used to happen to me when I was little, but has recently become more frequent over the last few months (approx 3 nights a week).
There would be times where I wake up to worms or bugs in my bed and search for them with the light on my phone. The bugs would sometimes appear on the roof but only for a few minutes.
Last night I had a go at my partner for spitting everywhere when he was sound asleep next to me, as I thought I could see him spitting all over the bed.
And most nights if I’m wearing minimal clothing I wake up, freak out and go put more clothes on because I forgot who I was sleeping next to and thought there were other people around looking at me.
It does get annoying at times because it interrupts my sleep. I have no mental illness (that I know of, although used to suffer from depression), I take no medication a part from panadol etc. So I’m putting it down to lack of sleep and probably stress related too.
I had a be pass one year ago ten hours on the table and then in a coma for five days with family trying to awake me. Then in ICU foe six days, While there I had very bad ICU terrors ( I told a friend who is a nurse) I was afraid to
asleep, plus, I could see the walls crumbling I knew my family would die if I kept them there too late…Of coarse now I know this is a known problem. I should have told the surgeon.
I now have those visions when waiting to fall asleep, The room looks like it is full of smoke. I am awake during them, last night was the worst . All kinds of people and animals. I know it is not real so was never afraid, but last night was the worst ever, I even got out of bed because of the tree and butterfly outside the window was bothering me. We do not have a tree there.
Thank you for putting my mind a little at ease.
Sincerely, Celia
Great article.
I have been seeing spiders or snakes in my bed since seeing some traumatic things (mainly dead bodies) when I was a Police officer.
I now seem to get them when I stay somewhere new or I’m stressed so I remind myself before I go to sleep that I’m likely to get them which helps me wake myself up when I do get them.
I wake up sweating and my heart is pounding. I have convinced other people that the animals are in my room as they look so real to me!
I have also been known to sleep walk including unlocking the front door, ending up in friends rooms of trying to jump out of a window one night. I understand that it’s highly unlikely anyone would ever actually follow through with this.
I am definitely not depressed but the doctor said that anti depressants are the only cure.
I’ve always wondered whether it’s linked to the Pettitt mal epilepsy I had as a kid.
Hmm…good luck everyone else with your dreams x
This morning it was dusk and I opened my eyes. I looked at my clock on the dresser to see what time it was. There was a mature grey and white striped cat licking a matching kitten. I watched it for at least a minute. My cat was on my bed and seemed undisturbed. I finally turned on the light next to my bed to see what I was seeing that looked like a cat. There was nothing there. I have seen other things before and they disappear when I turn on the light. I don’t recall ever seeing a person. I wasn’t doing anything this afternoon and decided to try and check it out. Looks like it happens to a lot of other people also.
I have dreams immediately after closing my eyes…just last night I closed my eyes and instantly I had huge dogs running at me and attacking. My husband comments all of the time that it is crazy at how fast I fall asleep. I also have “dreams” about being recorded and people being in my room by my bed a lot. My one year old daughter sleeps in my room with me and sometimes I yell at the people because they get to close to her…I have also swung at them. As for the camera I try to stay 100% still so the camera can’t record me. I also have dreams about snakes, spiders, rodents and all types of insects. I woke up one night and I was hitting my husband because he was covered in worms…another night mice were in our bed and I kicked him out of bed. He says that I talk all of the time and he can even ask me questions then get a reply. I can’t even count the number of times that my husband has been hit, kicked or yelled at while I am sleeping. About 10 years ago my middle daughter was sleeping with me and I threw her off the end of my bed because there were snakes in my bed. These things all happen in the middle of the night.
I fall asleep while in a waiting room or at the movies and usually it’s a super loud noise that startles me awake…if my kids don’t do it first ?. They are used to it now but used to get embarrassed.
One thing that happens when I am first falling asleep…probably the worst thing…I become paralyzed. The first time it happened I was around 10…it starts with a crawling feeling around my feet…almost like a cat walking from the foot of my bed…then I can’t move, yell or scream. The first time it happened satan was sitting on top of my chest. I couldn’t move, yell, or scream and it was hard to breathe. I remember repeating dear jesus dear jesus and after awhile the feeling went away. Now when the crawling feeling starts I get scared and start saying dear jeasus repeatedly. I still am paralyzed and cannot scream or yell but I have only “seen” satan two other times since the first episode. I used to have two cats and refused to let them in my room at night.
It is no wonder that I am extremely tired everyday. I am happy to know that I am not the only one.
My daughter sent me this link.. I finally felt safe enough to mention this disturbing phenomenon. Was questioning my sanity and scheduled a wellness visit with my doctor. Anyway it’s reassuring to know I’m not alone ( still feel that something is observing me) Good luck with that my life is not that interesting!!
At the beginning, 4 years ago, I had this hallucinations only when I was really tired or stressed. Now I have them every night, sometimes 3-4x/ night, even if I don’t feel tired. I wake up at night and I see people, man, women, and sometimes in the morning I remember things about them, like their name, or them making fun of me, saying that it is funny how scared I am of them. They usually are keeping distance but sometimes they get in my bed. I don’t get scared anymore, I’m like- oh it is just you? Let me sleep, please.
I thought I was strange for having these. It hasn’t happened lately but when I went through a stage of bad anxiety, I’d be fast asleep but feel as though someone was by my bed talking to me in a deep voice and I couldn’t really comprehend what they were saying but they would say the same thing every night. At the time I was sleep deprived as my son is a terrible sleeper and would wake up every night every 2-3 hours until he was about 3 and he still wakes up about 3 nights out of 5 and he’s 6 years old now. I also had these when he was baby and would wake up convinced that he was in my bed and i’ d acciendly rolled on him but of course he was safe asleep in his cot. It’s like even in sleep my brain is in overdrive mode lol… I was beginning to think I’d gone nuts lol. So I’m glad it’s relatively normal
I experience insomnia caused by these hallucinations. They are never scary, they feel like a normal dream to me, but they occur every single night, and most of the time i am consciously aware that i am on the brink of sleep, and that consciousness that i’m about to fall asleep wakes me up. This cycle happens repeatedly until i eventually get lucky and fail to notice that i’m falling asleep one time, but only after hours of this cycle repeating it’s self.
That’s insonmia? I thought that was how everyone went to sleep. Wow and thanks for posting
Oh mu God, that’s SO it. My hallucinations disturb me, but the whole ‘consciously aware that I am on the brink of sleep, and that consciousness that I’m about to sleep wakes me up’ just hits the nail on the head
Ever since I was about 9 I have experience these types of hallucinations, I am now nearly 20 and only became to understand these experience through studying psychology at university. My first experience I remember lying in bed being around 9 years old and seeing a woman standing looking at me covered in blood holding a knife she then started walking towards me so I ran out of my room to my parents who still recall that night also. Second account I was in bed and the same woman was above me she flung down on my her head next to mine screaming down my ear, I remember trying to grab the back of her neck to pull her off me I could feel her hair between my fingers but I could not lift her, it felt so real. The same women is my constant hallucination. I have found that I experience these when I am sleep deprived, feeling isolated or depressed. Depression amongst other mental Illnesses are common in my family, as my nana was sectioned when she was in her early 30s after the heartbreak of her separation from my granddad she had a psychotic episode. If anyone has any similar experiences id love to here from you. As it can be quiet scary due to the issue not being something well known regarding hallucinations unlike mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.
Hey everyone , im a 37 year old female , my first issues were the first hour of failing asleep, waking up to see figures in my bedroom and being so scared thinking i was being haunted by a presence but ive been tapped on the forehead heard male voices call out , and seen red type mists that ive litterally tried to bat away with my hands in panic, the funnist one was having had a few drinks and sharing a bedroom with a m8 at a friends house , thinking im awake , her clearly talking to me , me clearly seeing her, hearing her and responding , but believing that were trying to escape from a alien ship craft , lol honest this is true, i was so locked into the dream still playing out around me, but i was able to move my body out of the bed and even tried to climb out of the window , thinking i had found a way out for us both, it wasnt untill my friend shouted at me what the hell are you doing ,that i returned to the bed but remembered it all in the morning, the worst one was waking in my bedroom to have what i can only explain to be a old hag woman hanging from my ceiling hair all hanging down while she’s on all fours on my ceiling like out of a horror film, literally screaming something at me, that done me in , i was stuck to my bed but could see and hear all this and the fear was so intense i can still remember it today like it was real, once i fought my body to move i ran and ran got to the bottom of my staircase in major panic and realised i must be crazy , i sat on all this for 3 months saying nothing to anyone, then i had a old man sream in my face , another time i saw my bedroom wall brick by brick falling down on to my husband from the wall behind the headboard i got myself sat up to literally hold the wall back from it hurting my husband , ive literally been so scared ive pratically super human style pulled my husband over me as a human sheild from things ive seen , poor man has been through hell being woke up to me doing crazy things,and screaming etc( sometimes you want to scream but nothing comes out your mouth), ive believed with my life everything i saw and heard was real and true,i finally took myself to see my gp , ive children and i thought id loose my family to being locked up in a mental home , but couldnt take it anymore, i told my gp and she was brilliant she didnt think i was crazy or mental but took some blood tests, low and behold i had a underactive tyroid and ive a sleeping disorder (called hypogognic hallucinations so i take amitriptyline at night and on levothyroxine and since a few weeks in taking these meds ive not had bad night time sleep problems since, however i do get some pretty vivid dreams and have shouted spoke & cried in my sleep , but no nightmare maddness anymore , nothing so scary you feel like your going to die ,so if you have had something like this its likey to be a underlining issue that your gp will help you with and your not going crazy. I find keeping a note pad and pen handy to write things down to record for your gp.
All the best to you all. Special sleepers. XxxxX
I have seen people dancing, floating just above eye level sitting on my bed etc. They do not seem to be dangerous to me.Some are my loved ones dead and alive. I got up last night grabbed my cell phone for light of course they dissappear when turned it on. Thinking of leaving a light on every night! They are not dangerous but I am dangerous to myself. Lol Ran inot my bedroom wall,almost broke a finger.This has been going on for years. Sad for the people but glad I have company.
I went several months having hallucinations of spiders crawling all over my walls nearly night last year, and they were so realistic that I would jump out of bed and attack them. When they disappeared I thought they hid under my bed, but when it was a massive swarm with nowhere to hide I just didn’t know what happened. I’ve always had a fear of spiders, so it wasn’t fun. At last I found out it was a hallucination and that it wasn’t that uncommon, which relieved me. For a while I thought I was going insane. Depressive disorders run in my family, too, which explains the fact that the hallucinations are common in my family and your whole “mental illness / sleep hallucination” connection. But I haven’t accepted these willingly. It’s really annoying, and although I know it’s a hallucination, sometimes it’s so vivid that I still attack the spider (s). Makes me dread sleeping.
There’s just one problem. Mine happen at the same time nearly every night. I go to sleep, and almost exactly thirty minutes later I wake up and in the transition state the hallucinations appear and last around 5+ seconds. So since its in the beginning stage of sleep would that be hypnagogic, or hypnopompic because it’s during a (strangely scheduled) wake up moment?
What a revelation! Finally I found out the official condition for what I’ve been experiencing. I mostly see things when I wake up (either in the middle of the night, or in the morning). I see all sorts of things, from abstract shapes, geometric patterns to real things like a woman hanging herself, a boy sitting on my legs, a person standing next to my bed, windows and wallpapers that didn’t exist. They’re always visual, and they always freak me out, every time. I never get used to it.
Been having really scary dreams lately.. like someone is holding me down..last night I was in a weird position on the ceiling and someone was just about to enter the room and I couldn’t move… then I woke up on my back and arms in the same position in my dream.. it’s scary because I could feel someone on me .i suffer with bad migraines and was woundering if it’s connected. I’m having this experience a lot lately.
Hi after reading this topic .. I believe I’m having hypnagogic hullinations. This has been accuring 4 weeks every night. My question being is it because I have A pinch nerve on my lower back that may require surgery?
I just woke up full of fear. I had originally woken up around 3:43am. I came downstairs to make sure the house was locked. I turned on the backyard light to find a large black cat sitting there. Ive never seen him before. I went back up stairs and I fell back asleep listening to light natire sounds. I mustve been dreaming because all of a sudden while asleep I felt a strong force pushing me off my bed. It was dark in my room I couldnt see. I recall resisting the force and trying to make it to my bathroom to wash my face so I can wake up. I make it to the bathroom the lights wont turn on, Im splashing my face with water but I dont feel it. And no one can hear me. I thought I saw my youngest son pass my bedroom so I followed him downstairs, looks like he had made a mess in the kitchen, cinnamon stick figures hanging from the microwave. I pulled them off angry & I was getting mad for the mess he had caused, I called for him & no answer. I saw the garage light was on & I found my son facing down in the hamper. I threaten to spank him if he doesnt acknowledge me. Mind you hes 14! I approach him, then when he looks at me his face is blank & his body starts to fold inside the shape of our old sleeping bag. I try quickly to help him out but I couldnt. I ran back upstairs in a frantic state opened his bedroom door to find him playing on his cell phone. I laid next to him & told him I had just had a terrible dream. Of course I was still sleeping because I woke up in my bed and it was 4:20am! It felt so real. My heart rate was off the charts. What does this mean? Dreams like this have happened to me my whole life. So vivid.
ray county durham 70 yr of age my problem is centipedes in the toilet bowl bowl nad on the bathroom floor my wife had to confirm to me that there was nothing there this hapens at about 5.30 in the mornings straight after waking up
U are a sweet gentle soul…and u never know…maybe u we’re a centipede in a past life. Thanks for sharing ?
In the process of falling asleep I will often awake with a start convinced that I have seen things in my room. These things are often large spiders walking across the ceiling or wall, a little old lady or a man in a black gown standing by my bed. A couple of nights ago I saw a small cctv camera come out of the ceiling above my head as I lay in bed! Also, often as dropping off I am convinced there is a fire starting in the room! But of course when I awake and put on the light there is nothing there! I understandably find this very disturbing and in addition to then going on to have very complex, detailed dreams this makes me very nervous about going to sleep each night. I have been like this all my life and just wish it did not happen. So pleased (though sorry for others) that I’m not alone in experiencing this strange and very disturbing phenomenon.
I fell asleep and instantly started dreaming what seemed to be a very long dream upon waking. I woke up suddenly and my room was lit up with what seemed like candle holder with holes in it making lighted stencil patterns all over the walls, it was beautiful. Then I Felt my bed shaking a little. I got scared and grabbed my phone, I Had only been asleep for exactly one hour. I felt confused and went out to my car until the sun came up. 1st time that has ever happened to me. Weird
I will wake up from a sleep first I sow a spider that was a red glowing color red light. Then after seeing that for a few nights it was a red ball with glowing red lights. Then it was a green glowing wall that was just lines all over the place. I also woke up once and looked up and sow something up there with its head looking away. I was so freaked out that it was going to lifts its head up and look at me. I started sleeping with a small light on but now the things show up in the hallway. I dont mind the walls and glowing bugs. I stare at them till they go away. Its the things that look like someone that freaks me out. Haven’t told my Dr about it yet. They come and go. At times I can go weeks without seeing them. Now I know its not just me. Years ago I use to wake up and see a face all the time right in front of mine but after we moved it turned into the lights and odd things.
I used to see things in the room at night people sitting behind me talking to them asking them if they wanted tea. Tele changing channels by itself rats running around voices telling me what to do. I was a binge drinker and didn t eat while drinking. Horrible. I am 2 years away from drink. thank God and my friends have left. Take care. SEAN
I’m 23 years old, when I start to fall asleep I see this black figure sitting on my bed and then when I suddenly wake up it just goes away :/.
Finding this article has blown my mind! I can finally identify what is happening to me! I usually wake up with a fright as I’m just drifting off to sleep. Like as if something has startled me (I never know what!). However, it’s what happens later that is most scary. I’ve seen people sitting on my bed, a man hanging from the ceiling, spiders (they feature a lot!) and all sorts of random people / animals in my bedroom. I would say this happens several times a week.
Depending on the situation I can ‘proper wake’ with a fright and it takes me ages to fall back over. Sometimes I have the ability to calm myself and tell myself it’s just one of my weird experiences so I can self soothe as it’s happening. Depends on the situation. Like with the spiders, I can normally watch them and know it’s not real.
The worst time was when I ‘woke’ and a tiger was about to pounce on me. I jumped out of bed, cracked my head on my solid wood bedside table and bounced in to my mirrored wardrobe (derailing the middle panel which then fell in me). Seriously hurt myself – was badly bruised and had a massive lump on my head.
It sucks that a lot of people seem to experience this, but, I’m glad to read that I’m not alone.
Im 60 years old, it happens all of the time at night, I see people in the bedroom, few days ago, I felt I saw a man sitting in my bedroom’s balcony smoking a cigarette, it was so real that I actually got up and stepped out to the balcony but nobody was out there.
Everytime I go to sleep I see bugs and some are really realistic, in the darkest parts of my room there’s figures but its even worst near light.