Exploding Head Syndrome – Harmless But Disturbing
Last updated on: April 24, 2017
Are you sometimes woken by an unusually loud or frightening noise, but when you check your house or ask someone else, there’s no evidence that the noise really happened?
If so, it could be that you’ve experienced exploding head syndrome. This is a relatively uncommon sleep disorder which belongs in the parasomnia category.
It was first documented in 1920 by the scientist Armstrong-Jones, who described it as a ‘snapping of the brain’.
It was thought for a long time to be most common in people over the age of 50, with younger generations experiencing it less often.
However, researchers at Washington State University in 2015 found that many young people also experience exploding head syndrome. In their study, 18% of the 211 undergraduates they interviewed had experienced it in their lifetime, with 16.60% on a regular basis.
The name exploding head syndrome is misleading though, as it conjures up all kinds of horror film images. Fortunately, people who experience this do wake up with their heads intact!
To understand why it has such a dramatic name, let’s take a look at the symptoms.
Exploding head syndrome symptoms
1. The main symptom is imagining you hear a very loud and sudden sound, for example:
The sound of a bomb.
The sound of gunshot.
A loud clash of cymbals.
The sound of a door slamming.
An extremely loud rushing sound.
People screaming or shouting.
An electrical buzzing sound.
Any other loud sound which can’t be described exactly.
2. People don’t usually report feeling pain with exploding head syndrome. They may describe it as painful initially, but then reveal it’s just extremely loud. They may, however, be scared or upset when it wakes them up.
3. Exploding head syndrome is sometimes accompanied by a sensation of a flashing light.
4. People may feel it affects their breathing – with a gasping of breath or difficulty breathing on waking.
5. People may experience an episode of sleep paralysis, sometimes taking the form of a reported out-of-body experience.
6. An episode can last for between just a few seconds and a few minutes. It usually occurs when falling asleep or waking up, but not during the main stages of sleep.
(rest at the link)
http://www.nosleeplessnights.com/exploding-head-syndrome-harmless-but-disturbing/
