# Hypnagogic Hallucinations



## felimz (Jul 4, 2006)

During the worst times of DP/DR, I become extremely restless before going to bed. My mind begins to race, and I can do almost nothing to stop my inner monologue. _Only_ when DP/DR is full-blown, I hear loud sounds, jerk involuntarily, and even see bright spots right before falling asleep. I've sometimes dreamed (about 2 minutes into my sleep) that I am in the same room, but something is missing. When I open my eyes after I realize the inconsistency of the dream, I become REALLY frightened.

These hypnagogic experiences truly scared (and still do) me because I thought they were the beginning of a psychotic/schizophrenic break. My psychiatrist attributed them to my state of hypervigilance--something I do not quite understand.

Can someone tell me how hypnagogic hallucinations are related to depersonalization/derealization, and how they differ from the more classic symptom of narcolepsy?


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## moonDust (May 18, 2005)

Yes, i can definetely say i had the same Hypnogogic thing, and i also thought it was schizo related.

I think it's just because you're so anxious and you can't fall asleep you're aware of those Hynogogic thoughts that usually happens every night.

Now, as i'm no longer in deep DP/Anxiety state i don't notice them anymore.


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## Catharsis (Jul 2, 2006)

Yeah. I had the same thing and sometimes I was sure that I was at least mildly schizophrenic. Pretty scary. I just looked at the wall and closed my eyes.


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2006)

Yea i have them every once in a while sometimes they are funny other times they can be somewhat frightning. I also experience what you described as dreaming while half asleep. I get vivid amazing dreams 2 mins after closing my eyes and then i realize im still half awake and i wake up. Most of the time i just hear my mind talking saying silly out of the ordinary things like "tv is pigs feet walk the moon" or "girls eat austin powers" other times its scary shit like a loud booming voice yelling out raaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrr! haha or an alarm clock or trains passing by . I started experiencing them after my bad marijuana experience. They are supposedly normal as long your not hearing things in middle of the day your probably fine.


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## felimz (Jul 4, 2006)

That's somewhat reassuring.

I must reiterate that it only happens when my DP/DR is full-blown and my anxiety is high. Otherwise, I can fall asleep normally (although my dreams are always frighteningly vivid).

I sometimes get them when waking up. My transition from a sleep state to an awake state seems to have blurred out. That's why, in the morning, my DP/DR is worst.

My sleep has become almost something I dread since I DP/DRd.


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## aldo1987 (Jun 12, 2006)

don't worry, if ne1 is neurotic about their dreams and hypnagogues it is me lol!!! i still get this but i went through periods where it was so constant i thought i was going mad but it seems apparent it only gets real bad when i am anxious. do an author search for me on stuff about dreaming for more reassurance that you probably have the exact same i do, a mind that is unable to switch off properly due to anxiety and depression.


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## Scattered (Mar 8, 2005)

My sleep patterns have been getting worse and this is one aspect of that. Sometimes right before falling asleep I'll hear voices or random sounds like you said. I also experience the mini-dreams. I find that these short dreams play with my sense of reality and only enhance the feeling of not knowing who or where or why I am. It can be truly horrifying and sleep is becoming difficult for me. The problem is that the more you think about this the more it becomes an expected reaction. Believe me if you focus on this during the day you will experience it all the time during the night but if you try to relax and not care, I'm sure sleep will be slightly easier. As always, don't make the fear a habit.


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

Ive had this happen to me as well but i didnt think it had anything to do with dp/dr. But now that i know other people get this i guess it does make sense.

One thing i had happen to me alot is when im just drifting off to sleep i feel like im paralysed but im aware of my surroundings. Sometimes when ive had this happen ive gotten hallucinations such as other people being in the room with me.

Sometimes it got really creepy and these people would have no faces and other times i sensed a bad entity in the room but i could not see anything. A few times i saw a person that looked like a witch dressed in black in my room at the foot of my bed but they didnt move they just kept looking at me.

During these episodes i could not move and i would try desperatly to wake myself up but this only made me panic more. When i stopped trying to fight it and just told myself that it was all a hallucination these events no longer scared me. I havent had anything like that happen in a few months now.

Some medications can cause symptoms like these. Oddly enough some people report this happening when they are on anti-psychotics. Ive heard a few people say that they get audio hallucinations when there just drifting off to sleep on seroquel.


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2006)

comfortably numb said:


> Ive had this happen to me as well but i didnt think it had anything to do with dp/dr. But now that i know other people get this i guess it does make sense.
> 
> One thing i had happen to me alot is when im just drifting off to sleep i feel like im paralysed but im aware of my surroundings. Sometimes when ive had this happen ive gotten hallucinations such as other people being in the room with me.
> 
> ...


YEAAA!!! I was on 25 mg of seroquel for about 2 weeks and during that time i heard loud growl or moan right before i fell asleep.. It was really loud. Thats why i stopped taking the stuff it made feel like a zombie and i thought it made me crazier than i already was


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## aldo1987 (Jun 12, 2006)

comfortably numb, what you have written is a near perfect example of sleep paralysis, do a wikipedia on it and you will see a lot of your experience in the article, sensing a malevolent presence in the room is a very common hallucination to have during this. i have also heard clicking noises, the door opening behind me, mistaking a pile of jackets for a little dwarf with lord of the rings style clothes on (well weird!) i also had one of the really rare ones the article describes where you feel like you are sliding of the bed, i actually thought i had slid off the bed and onto the floor but when i regained control i hadn't moved an inch it was so weird. if you are really freaking out the best way to regain control is to start wiggling your toes first , then try your fingers, eventually it will slowly come up to your arms and legs and you will kind of shake free from it.


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## none (Dec 29, 2005)

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## morningstarrr (Jul 22, 2006)

this happened to me all the time, every night&morning i'd hear random voices that made no sence like "can i see your pen" and "everyones doing it" ect.

once i even couldnt move and i heard someone say "theres a hand on your back" and then i felt someone touching my back..and i tried to scream and move as much as i could but i couldnt.

i used to feel things every night. i would feel someone right on top of me, laying on me. i used to think my house was haunted and spirits were laying in bed with me, haha im such a dork.

and i thought i was a schizophrenic. because my mom is. and i was hallucinating.

i started seeing a pshychiatrist who said it was hypagogic hallucinations caused by my severe anxiety and she put me on risperdal which is an antipshycotic which made ALL my anxiety go away and made most of my hallucinations go away.


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## Doberg (Sep 12, 2013)

Wow, so I guess hallucinations can happen with DPDR when its an extreme episode. I never hear anything although I fear I will and I rarely ever see things not there except on occasion which 8 out of 10 times it was something there lol


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