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Adult Night Terrors: Experiencing Phobic Episodes

by Jenn
(Canada)

I'm a 27-year-old woman. I share a bed with my boyfriend. Every so often I am jolted awake and I see an imagined spider in the room. I am terribly phobic of them. I freak out and scream and demand my boyfriend turn on the light. I have even hopped out of bed.

But I'm not really awake. I'm in that place between dreaming and awake and once the light is on and I can see there are no spiders, I go back to sleep immediately. It never lasts longer than a minute or two. The next day, usually in the evening, I sometimes recall the episode briefly and ask my boyfriend if it happened and he will confirm it did.

I think it's odd because I feel like I'm awake at the time, and I interact with my boyfriend and react to things like the light being turned on and off. But it's a narrow tunnel focus and nothing else matters but seeing that the room is spider-free. When I recall what I can of those episodes, I feel like I was on some sort of automated fear response and maybe 1/4 asleep still.

Additional information: I have trouble falling asleep usually, and can lie awake for hours. Sometimes I have talked in my sleep. Other times I have sat up and said things to my boyfriend I have no recollection of. This happens every few months.

Am I experiencing night terrors?
Kevin: Hey Jenn, thanks for the great description. What you describe sounds like it could be sleep terrors, but you do seem to be a bit more cognizant than what traditionally happens in most cases. This leads me to believe that there is possibly a link between what you are experiencing and hypnagogic hallucinations.

Hypnagogic hallucinations can consist of similar imagery as sleep terrors, but the imagery is more associated with REM sleep, the period in which we dream, rather than the deep slow wave sleep (SWS) that sleep terrors are associated with. Because of this, and the fact that this imagery takes place while awakening rather than from being stirred in SWS, it's easier to remember events and imagery from hypnagogic hallucinations.

It's hard to say for sure either way just from exchanging a few sentences, but I thought I'd throw that term your way in case it shines any more light on your experiences.

Feel free to follow up with any additional comments or questions using the "Post Comments" link below!

Warmly,
Kevin




Comments for
Adult Night Terrors: Experiencing Phobic Episodes

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Sep 27, 2010
 Thank you
by: Jenn

Kevin, I think you've hit the nail on the head. I've dug into this a bit more and am reading things that account for many bad sleep experiences I've had throughout my life:

Sounds, such as voices in that semi-sleeping and semi-awake state, hearing the doorbell ring, all happen relatively often.

I've seen faces and shadow people in the room for many years and have been terrified.

The spider visions were the most disruptive, and I hadn't considered it was all the same sort of issue.

All of these seem to be explained by Hypnagogia. And that is a major relief. Thanks for your help!
Sep 27, 2010
 Thrilled To Hear!
by: Kevin Morton

Hey Jenn. I'm thrilled to hear this may have been a step in the right direction for some explanation and solace! I've been starting to write more and more extensively on hypnagogic hallucinations on this site in the past two months because experiences relating to it have been brought up pretty frequently by visitors (searching for it in the search bar on the top right of each page will evidence that). Adding a section to the site specifically dedicated to hypnagogic/-pompic imagery is definitely high on my to-do list. Let me know if you've found any good resources I can point our visitors to :)
Jan 18, 2011
 My experience
by: Floyd

My wife of 4 years has been suffering from something we're not sure of, she wakes up screaming in the middle of the night and she has been seeing what she calls faces or eyes. Most of the time these "eyes" are blood red and are right on top of her when she wakes up. After reading this article about night terrors we feel that this is what she is suffering from, can someone please give us some help??
Aug 30, 2011
 exact same thing
by: Anonymous

I am now 25 and since i was 18 i was experiencing what jenn was experiencing with the spiders. it started out once every few months and i related it to stress in my life.. i noticed myself getting very fatigued as the episodes happened more frequently. It came to a point i had the episodes for 2 weeks straight everynight. It was very stressful. I tried a few medications to try and sleep but the spiders came back. Weird thing was that i started to see other objects as well. I hated going to bed fearing that i would see the spiders. I tried sleeping with the light on, which worked but bothered me trying to fall asleep. I have been episode free for 3 months.. It has worked so far sleeping with a sleep mask covering my eyes. I hope its my solution. only time will tell and it doesnt hurt trying it either.
Oct 24, 2011
 me too!
by: Sarah

I have had episodes since I was little. I am 33 and married now and I am still suffering from these horrible events. I usually wake up from him saying to me "tell me where you are and what you are doing" that usually makes me think and realize that I'm having an episode and I just lay back down. I usually sit up screaming sitting up in bed in full panic. My heart feels like its about to beat out of my chest and I am trembling. I usually see spiders or webs over my bed. Sometimes I sleep walk and think I am on a mission or acting out a task. The next day I will vaguely remember sleep walking and I will find clues. One night I was on a mission to do something with 3 items. I couldn't remember what the 3 items were or what i was to do with them but after a while I partially woke in my livingroom and all of the sudden I could feel my thoughts slipping away from me. I couldn't remember what I was doing so I went back to bed. Then next day I found my scissors in my bathroom by the side of the sink...I suddenly remembered that the scissors were one of the three items. It freaked me out that I had scissors in my hand. I don't have episodes if I sleep with a night light but I often get up and unplug it in my sleep. I also have episodes where I am pressing against the walls as hard as I can or pressing my palms to the sky as if to keep the ceiling from falling on me. I also talk in my sleep. I am trying to get pregnant but want to get this under control before I do. I have undergone 2 sleep studies but didn't have an episode either time. They diagnosed me with narcolepsy at 20 because I could enter into REM within a minute or two and because of my fatige but I don't agree with the diagnosis because I never fall asleep uncontrolably. Any suggestions are welcome! I am tired of this crap and I feel like maybe I am haunted!

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