Hypnagogic state

Hypnogogia, also spelled Hypnagogia, is the name of an unpleasant experience a person can go through when falling asleep. When in a hypnogogic state a person can have lifelike visions or even full body paralysis. The frightening part for the individual, in many cases, is the inability to react to their hallucinations, even being unable make a sound. The term was coined by the 19th century French psychologist Alfred Maury.

It is not an uncommon occurrence with 30 to 40 percent of people suffering from it at least once in their lives. However, it can be a sign of other problems such as narcolepsy or temporal lobe epilepsy.

It is thought to happen when a person enters REM (rapid eye movement) sleep too quickly. During REM the brain blocks the signals that allow the limbs to move to ensure that we do not act out our dreams. However, when suffering from hypnogogia, the individual is still concious of their surroundings, effectively dreaming while still awake.

One method of getting out of this state is to stimulate a sensory nerve. Depending on the level of paralysis this can prove to be difficult. However, the eyes are still able to move and simply rolling them around can help.

A disrupted sleep pattern or sleep deprivation is thought to be a primary cause of hypnogogia.

See also: Sleep disorder, Lucid dreaming, Sleep paralysis, Hypnopompia