bizarre mental images before sleep - Sleep Disorders Message Board

ryan5039 · 02-16-2009, 03:34 AM

before i start, it would probably be pretty important to note that all my life i have had problems with not being able to sleep, and having a very erratic sleep schedule.

anyway, sometimes before i go to sleep, i get really weird mental images that i can't control at all. it'll usually start out with something totally random and mundane like a teddy bear or something, but then the image will start to wildly warp and change size. what's really weird, is that the mental image will start to warp into shapes that seem totally impossible, almost extra-dimensional

. and usually if it's something humanoid-shaped, or anything else that is symmetrical, it will start to warp symmetrically.

another weird thing i get before i sleep, sometimes in conjunction with the first one, is that i will sometimes totally lose spatial awareness. i will suddenly find it impossible to imagine the size of my room, or anything else for that matter. and if i try to imagine the size of another room or place and the things in it, it will be totally impossible. it's like my brain totally loses the ability to relate the size of something to the size of another thing. weird thing is, it totally goes away if i get up and turn the light on for a bit. and i sleep with my room pitch dark, so that could be the reason.

one last thing i should add is that these two things are pretty rare, and only happen once or twice every couple months (although the first one happens slightly more often), and they usually only happen on nights where i go to bed really tired or if i stay up late. also, i am not on any medications, i eat pretty healthy, and the only drugs i have ever taken are tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, all of which i don't consume very often at all.

does anyone else experience these things, or know the cause of them? or maybe even a name for them? thanks in advance for your input.

3mb · 02-26-2009, 02:51 PM

Well, that's quite a hard one to reply to, all I can suggest is for you to see your GP about these bizarre illusions. Perhaps it could be something to do with your sleeping pattern, as you mentioned that it happens when your really tired. It could possible also be that a lot of stuff is going on right now in your life, so at the end of your day, your brain is exhausted and plays a slide show of the events that occurred in that day.

memsjv13 · 03-06-2009, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryan5039

before i start, it would probably be pretty important to note that all my life i have had problems with not being able to sleep, and having a very erratic sleep schedule.

anyway, sometimes before i go to sleep, i get really weird mental images that i can't control at all. it'll usually start out with something totally random and mundane like a teddy bear or something, but then the image will start to wildly warp and change size. what's really weird, is that the mental image will start to warp into shapes that seem totally impossible, almost extra-dimensional

. and usually if it's something humanoid-shaped, or anything else that is symmetrical, it will start to warp symmetrically.

another weird thing i get before i sleep, sometimes in conjunction with the first one, is that i will sometimes totally lose spatial awareness. i will suddenly find it impossible to imagine the size of my room, or anything else for that matter. and if i try to imagine the size of another room or place and the things in it, it will be totally impossible. it's like my brain totally loses the ability to relate the size of something to the size of another thing. weird thing is, it totally goes away if i get up and turn the light on for a bit. and i sleep with my room pitch dark, so that could be the reason.

one last thing i should add is that these two things are pretty rare, and only happen once or twice every couple months (although the first one happens slightly more often), and they usually only happen on nights where i go to bed really tired or if i stay up late. also, i am not on any medications, i eat pretty healthy, and the only drugs i have ever taken are tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, all of which i don't consume very often at all.

does anyone else experience these things, or know the cause of them? or maybe even a name for them? thanks in advance for your input.

i have the exact same problem..its almost like my brain won't shut off and its completely out of my control. I also lose any ability to focus on the size and shape of an object and my body feels completely abnormal and I am not able to recognize the appropriate size and feel of even my face. It maybe due to obstructive sleep apnea..but i severely doubt that it is the cause.