I know that it’s not Halloween yet, but I have been learning a lot about sleep disorders recently and thought that I might put together a compilation of some mysterious ones. Some, or most of these may have even occurred to you during the entire span of your life so far. Sleep itself is said to be associated with the paranormal, some even calling a gateway into another world. Many people have claimed to experience out of body experiences while in hypnagogic states such as sleeping, often experiencing hallucinations of some sort. Most of us already know what it might be like to lie in your bed at night and suddenly hear your name called or your body shakes because you think you might actually be falling. Who knows, maybe these odd disorders will make you think similarly too…
1. Nightmare Disorder:
This disorder is categorized by, of coarse, having perpetual nightmares almost every night. Everyone at some point has most likely experience what is called a nightmare, which consists of a dream accompanied by uncontrollable fear. Most people grow out of these by early adulthood, but some are sick with the petulant disturbing dreams. Stress and lack of sleep are often attributing factors.
2. Exploding Head Syndrome
Wow. Can we just take a moment to appreciate the title of this disorder, which occurs when a person suddenly falls into deep sleep and is instantly awakened by a thundering crack or an explosive going off. No one is sure how this disorder came around, nor what it may be related to; however, as of late it does not appear to put it’s victim in any immediate danger, nor long term.
3. Sleepwalking
While most prevalent in children, many adults also tend to walk around as if possessed in the middle of the night, searching for nothing – everything – who really knows what you are doing? In fact, nobody knows for sure what triggers sleep walking, but stress and deprived sleep are often factors. Unlike Exploding Head Syndrome, this can be dangerous to those who encounter it – all I’m saying is that if I disliked someone and knew that they could sleep walk I might just have to put a trip wire outside of their door…and who knows what would happen after that wire was triggered…
4. Night Terrors
This is interesting. I have always wondered why these might be called night terrors, because everyone who I have met who has experienced these has never actually remembered the actual occasion. So, why are these called night terrors? Well for one, the event tends to include the action of a person ‘waking’ in the night and screaming or panting, although these people are not truly awake. According to the National Institute of Health, most patients do not remember their episode by the next day. One thing is for sure, and that is that these episodes can certainly be terrifying for those experiencing someone else’s night terror, as they watch them run and scream around the bedroom, or the house, searching for what it is that might be unconsciously motivating their fear.
5. Nocturnal Eating Disorder
This one coincides with Exploding Head Syndrome for its name. Whatever sentence that has the word nocturnal in the same line as eating disorder is going to be an interesting one. Most people who experience this often go on binge eating rampages in the middle of the night, unknowingly. It might sound nice, if your a foodie, but you probably won’t remember anything that happened when the morning comes. Also, this can be dangerous, so if you somehow discover that you have this disorder, you might want to consider locking up your knives at night and turning the pilot off of your stove at night.
My favorite of them all. While people who experience this often report intense fear and hallucinations, many often report it to be a spiritual awakening. It is classified by the feeling of compression, as if someone – or something – may be holding the victim in place – or the paralysis of one during their sleep hours, although they are actually awake, and a feeling of intense fear washes over them. Many report seeing a dark, almost demonic figure in their line of vision. In some places this is referred to as Old Hag Syndrome, well I would like to meet this Old Hag one day, and ask her a few questions myself.
Now that you know about some of these interesting, somewhat disturbing disorders, comment and let us know what plagues your sleep. Who really knows exactly how the mind works and what kind of exposure that it receives throughout all hours of the day. One thing is obvious, though, and that is that our minds seem to run the most rampant at night, in the dark. Don’t forget to take a look at CozyPure‘s natural bedding selection, who knows, perhaps it might cure you of your sleep disorder – after all, good sleep often leads to good things.
Eric is currently a student and part-time team member for Norfolk, VA based business Organic Comfort Zone, manufacturers of CozyPure organic bedding and mattress. For more information visit organiccomfortzone.com or cozypure.com or call 757.480.8500.