Sleep Disorders

I have had a recent resurgence in my sleep disorder so I thought it was a good time to do some educating about disorders of the sleep wake cycle.

I have a condition called hypnagogic hallucinations.  This is a disorder of the sleep/wake cycle where you can have auditory or visual hallucinations at the onset of your brain entering sleep.   This disorder usually appears in the teens or childhood (although many will outgrow it) I was not one of the lucky ones.  There is usually other family members with a sleep disorder also.  When I first started experiencing these I was terrified and thought that "evil spirits" were trying to get me at night.  I spent many years going to therapists who did not know what they were either and were not sure how to advise me.

You are dreaming but you are still awake. "Hypnagogic hallucinations are dreams that intrude on wakefulness, which can cause visual, auditory, or touchable sensations."  From http://www.americansleeplabs.com/a-sd-hypgh.html 

In my own practice, I try and spot this disorder quickly and educate the client on it, because it can make you feel like you are "crazy"; and you can be afraid to tell others for fear that they will think you are "crazy". Hypnagogic hallucinations are related to narcolepsy, but I do not meet the criteria for narcolepsy, as many others do not who have this disorder.

If you or someone you love has this disorder I encourage good sleep hygiene: going to bed at a regular hour eat night, avoiding alcohol, drugs or caffeine before bed, and keeping stress down.  Using a sleep mask over the eyes may help also; I have used that during an episode that will usually last for a few days before it goes away again, and it has been helpful.