YSK: there's a type of common hallucination (often scary) that happens shortly after waking up. You can move and talk while seeing it and it can last between a few seconds up to a minute - eviltoast

It’s called hypnopompic hallucination.

Unlike with sleep paralysis, you can move and talk while still seeing it and it will last a few seconds up to a minute which can seem like an eternity.

It usually fades as soon as you turn on the light, but for some very few people it does not and persists even after turning on the light.

Here’s an example of someone who often experiences these and has started recording themselves: https://youtu.be/bEMGZNvETMQ

Why YSK: because it’s very scary and unsettling when it happens and since you can move you don’t believe it’s sleep paralysis and can’t explain it. This might explain many of the “monster or spirit at the foot of my bed” sightings that we often hear mentioned in horror podcasts.

  • Ginger@lemmy.world
    2·
    1 year ago

    Thank you! It was really awful for a long time, but it got to a point, years in, where I understood what was happening and that made it easier. I could be jolted awake, seeing something coming at me, panicking as I scrambled to turn on the light, and then watch it slowly fade away. Then I would laugh at myself and tell my brain to fuck off and fall back asleep. Being able to sleep after made it much more tolerable. Would have been even better if I didn’t wait nearly a decade to think it was important enough to share with my doctor.