Topic: Exploding head syndrome (sleep disorder)

[Mouth for war]

Hey! I was just wondering if anyone else suffers from this terrible disorder? Thankfully it doesn't happen often but last night was my worst episode ever. People who suffers from this can have a little different experiences. For me it's like this: a loud ringing starts in my head, it feels like my brain gets squashed almost, a strong feeling of fear, shaking. Nightmar-ish images invades my head like a tornado. Melting, twisted demonic faces etc. Last night i also got kind of paralyzed...i couldn't open my eyes no matter how hard I tried.
Not a pleasant thing at all If anyone have experience with this I'd love to know how you deal with it :-)

[KyriakosCH]

Sounds very frightening... I can't say I had something very similar, although it sounds a bit like dieing in a dream (for me). At least the sense of being squished and the unpleasant images which stick around even as you wake up.
It also reminded me a bit of low-consciousness near-sleep nightmares.

And, of course, the title made me think of Scanners 

[Mouth for war]

Haha scanners is always what you think of when you hear that name. Yeah it is a terrible thing. But as I said. It doesn't happen so often these days but i don't ever want that to happen again

[Stupot]

Yeah, I get these sometimes. It’s almost like some kind of giant build up of static electricity in your brain suddenly releasing all at once, there’s a screech followed by a literal zzzzap! And I usually experience some kind of vision. Like once I flashed back to being in a mosh-pit at a punk festival and a heavy dude’s flailing fist smacking me square in the face at the exact moment I’m jolted awake in this electric zzzap!

I’ve also experienced the twisting faces and the sleep paralysis. Both scary but also sort of intriguing, like my mind sort of wants them to continue even though I’m genuinely scared. I once had sleep paralysis so the point that I was screaming but this dense layer of unconsciousness was blocking the action from being realised. I eventually kind of pushed through the fog into reality and woke up literally screaming.

[BarbWire]

When my kids were young and my husband left home for his 6am-2pm shift, at work, I
would drift off back to sleep. One of my sons would then come into the bedroom. I tried
to open my eyes, push back the covers and speak to him, but I was unable. My eyes
refused to fully open, all actions were in slow motion and I couldn't utter a word. Then I would think
'Don't worry, you are dreaming, you will wake up soon.' After a while I did and it was such a relief.
I can't remember exactly how long this went on for but it did eventually stop. Not a pleasant experience
and it still scares me now, when I think about it.

[KyriakosCH]

Yeah, I get these sometimes. It’s almost like some kind of giant build up of static electricity in your brain suddenly releasing all at once, there’s a screech followed by a literal zzzzap! And I usually experience some kind of vision. Like once I flashed back to being in a mosh-pit at a punk festival and a heavy dude’s flailing fist smacking me square in the face at the exact moment I’m jolted awake in this electric zzzap!

I’ve also experienced the twisting faces and the sleep paralysis. Both scary but also sort of intriguing, like my mind sort of wants them to continue even though I’m genuinely scared. I once had sleep paralysis so the point that I was screaming but this dense layer of unconsciousness was blocking the action from being realised. I eventually kind of pushed through the fog into reality and woke up literally screaming.

When you see something as nightmarish, it is mesmerizing. So you cannot stop it unless you actively try to break free. (or if the tension gets unbearable).

Back when I was a student, I used to actively seek out this kind of mental experience, so had a few. But the horror isn't healthy Still, it felt as if it would allow for some deeper understanding/revelation of how the mind works, or just lead to even more bizarre vision-like experiences.

[Mouth for war]

"It’s almost like some kind of giant build up of static electricity in your brain suddenly releasing all at once, there’s a screech followed by a literal zzzzap!" Yeah exactly like that. The worst part about the build up is that then you're aware about the shit that's about to come down

[milkanannan]

More evidence that we live beneath a hating god.

[Mouth for war]

"More evidence that we live beneath a hating god."

Raisins proved that to me a long time ago

[Danvzare]

Sounds like the onset of sleep paralysis. I get that. I've learnt to just fall into it, relax, and start lucid dreaming. You tend to wake up from it in about five minutes.
Coincidentally, I had it this morning... TWICE!
Just relax and start (for lack of a better word) daydreaming.