Hallucinations During Dreams

Hallucinations during dreams seem frightening and inexplicable, but it is normal for people to experience them occasionally. They typically occur at the onset of sleep and just before waking up and can be brought on by a number of factors, including stress and exhaustion.

Hypnagogic Hallucinations

• Hypnagogic hallucinations typically occur just as a person is falling asleep, and are typically accompanied by auditory visual or tactile sensations. The dreamer often hears voices, imagines someone is touching him, or believes he sees someone else in the room. These hallucinations often cause people to waken suddenly and are sometimes accompanied by sleep paralysis, which renders the just-awakened sleeper physically immobile, even though she is fully conscious. Breathlessness and muscle tightness are also symptoms of sleep paralysis.

Hypnopompic Hallucinations

• These are hallucinations when your are just coming out of sleep. A falling sensation and sensing a presence in the room are common hypnopompic experiences. Sleep paralysis occurs more commonly with hynpnopompic hallucinations than they do with hypnagogic ones. Unsurprisingly, these hallucinations are often frightening as, unlike nightmares, they still feel real to the dreamer after he is fully awake. This is why people in medieval times believed they had been visited by demons.

Causes

• Insomnia, stress, anxiety, a disruption in normal sleeping patterns, alcohol and prescription drugs are recognized causes of sleep hallucinations. Drug abuse, narcolepsy and mental health problems can also trigger hypnagogic and hypnopompic episodes.

Treatment

• Most people experience sleep-related hallucinations at some time in their lives and, if these occur infrequently they are usually nothing to worry about. A doctor or sleep specialist should be consulted if hallucinations occur regularly. Patients may be asked to take part in an overnight sleep study, to allow specialists to diagnose brain activity during sleep. Doctors usually want to rule out narcolepsy and may alter prescription drugs or dosages if they contribute to the hallucinations. A regular sleep routine and refraining from alcohol before bedtime is sometimes all that is needed to solve the problem.