Who knows about Hypnopompic Hallucinations

Factual Questions
1

Ever since my pre teen years I have experienced hypnopompic hallucinations to varying degrees of intensity and frequency. Every now and then, when I really start to have them a lot (like now) I go out in search of internet knowledge and rarely find anything other than basic overviews and definitions.

I would really like some good web or book resources for the study of these occurences, fully equiped with personel experiences. If you have any good information or (even better) if you have experence with this kind of thing your input would be very helpfull. It’s just too crazy a thing for there not to be a wealth of information available.

FYI most of the sites I have come across deal with the metaphysical/out of body/religious/ free floaty ideas involving hypagogia…I really only have intrest in rational scientific information.

2

There were some articles about hypnopompic and hypnogogic hallucinations in the magazine The Skeptical Inquirer I tried using the on-line index, and can’t find them, but if you look at back issues in a library or query them you might find them:

http://www.csicop.org/si/

3

Is this the same thing as sleep paralyisis with hallucinations? If so, and you don’t, you know, enjoy it (I don’t) try napping on your side instead of on your back.

4

I’ve never experienced any paralysis, only hallucinations. I did quickly learn to sleep on my side as a prevention measure, most of the occurences happen when I unconciously turn onto my back during sleep.

5

Here’s one as related to the common elements of “alien abductions.”
http://www.csicop.org/si/2006-02/abducted.html

And another about the relationship of these hallucinations to sleep paralysis.
http://www.csicop.org/sb/2002-09/i-files.html

And this book, Wrestling With Ghosts, by Jorge Conesa Sevilla may be of interest, too.

Another topic, closely related to sleep paralysis, is, lucid dreaming. Cecil Adams has a Straight Dope column about lucid dreaming here:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050805.html

6

Cecil comments briefly on sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations and gives one reference here: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_408.html

7

Isn’t this what people call lucid dreaming? :confused:

8

Great links guys, thanks. For the record this certainly is not the same as lucid dreaming. I am a lucid dreamer as well, but that only means I can become aware that I am dreaming withing the actual dream. Hypnopompic hallucinations is when, upon waking from sleep, you actually hallucinate…Mostly visually, sometimes auditory or tactile hallucinations. This is most often coupled with a sense of incredible fear.

The person I sleep with has seen first hand exactly how real and scary it can be (For the hallucinator and the person witnesing it)