What causes hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis?

Question

I get these very severely while I fall asleep often. Loud voices in my ears, almost like someone's tuning through a radio really quickly. It only happens before I fall asleep.

I also get sleep paralysis on a regular basis -- I wake up and for a few moments (though sometimes it feels like hours) can't move my body.

Are these two related? What causes them?

Answer 1

The fact that you know the names of these phenomena tells me you must already know something about narcolepsy.

There are two different kinds of sleep (REM and nonREM); these two states are as different from each other as either is from the awake state. So, there are three basic states of conciousness. In narcolepsy, the boundaries between these states are leaky. Why this happens is largely unknown, although some genetic associations have been uncovered.

You are at fairly high risk of developing sleep attacks and cataplexy. At the very least, you should make sure to avoid sleep deprivation. Ask your primary doctor to refer you to a sleep specialist.

Answer 2

Descartes came to the conclusion that since we perceive the world through are senses and since are senses are fallible we can not prove a thing. and since all philosophers like to coin latin phases he came up with "Cogito Ergo Sum" I think therefore i am..which means for us to be able to ask the question of the nature of existence something must exist to ask the question. I can live with this conclusion because Descartes wasn't around to have his mind screwed up by Nietzsche:) so at least he had that going for him...

Answer 3

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