OVERVIEW: Hypnagogic Hallucinations Causes

Having hallucinations in that blurry period right before falling asleep or right before waking up is definitely a disturbing experience and so it is important to understand the causes and see if anything can be done about this specific sleep disorder called hypnagogic hallucinations (before falling asleep) or hypnopompic (coming out of sleep).

Below you will find the overview of all hypnagogic hallucinations’ causes with the aim of grasping the full picture. However, if you want to know more in detail about a specific chapter see its separate dedicated article.

Hypnagogic Hallucinations Causes | Hallucinogenic Drugs & Medication Side Effects

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There are both legal and illegal drugs and prescription medicines available on the market which can cause either hallucinations in general or, could, as a side effect, cause hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations. Some of the more famous ones are: LSD, Psilocybin, Ecstasy, Mescaline. Moreover, it is possible to have hallucinations if someone is in the withdrawal period such as when trying to stop using illegal drugs or medicines. This is due to the body trying to return to its normal state. One simple way to test if this is the cause of your sleep disorders is to stop taking the drugs if possible for some time and see if the hypnagogic hallucinations remain or not, but do not expect an immediate effect because drugs take various amounts of time to leave your system.

Hypnagogic Hallucinations Causes | Brain Damage or Injury

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Brain damage or injury can cause all kinds of havoc on your body and this includes sleep disorders such as hypnagogic hallucinations (or hypnopompic). If the brain is not able to process information or data the “normal” way it might make “errors” which we perceive as hallucinations. Not only brain injury but also brain disease can result in negative consequences. Patients who suffer from schizophrenia for example, vast majority of them, see hallucinations.

Hypnagogic Hallucinations Causes | Sleep Deprivation & Exhaustion

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Continuous lack of sleep can result in sleep disorders like sleep deprivation, which continue to damage the body and impair mental functioning. Continuous sleep deprivation will lead to chronic sleep deprivation which results in very negative consequences among which are severe exhaustion, abnormal brain functioning, confused and traumatized internal body processes. This kind of a situation can lead to confusions in the senses or sensory disruptions which can easily produce hallucinations the frequency and intensity of which would be directly correlated with how bad the sleep deprivation is.

Hypnagogic Hallucinations Causes | Meditation, Prayer & Sensory Deprivation

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Prayer is a form of meditation and meditation is a form of sensory deprivation. What this means is that when we take steps through whatever method to block out information coming into our brain from all of our senses then the brain itself starts producing information. Researches done in sensory deprivation have shown that in just 15 minutes of complete sensory deprivation the subjects have experienced hallucinations.

Hypnagogic Hallucinations Causes | Stress and Hallucinations

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The connection between stress and hallucinations follows similar reasoning as the case explained above in sleep deprivation. Healthy amount of stress is perhaps not an issue for the body and may be even a positive motivator, but the continuous everyday stress which many people are under have very negative consequences on the health of the body and especially the brain. Brain function impairment and a constant stress on the body will definitely result in bad consequences part of which might be sleep disorders such as hypnagogic hallucinations.