Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sleep-Related Hallucinations

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Parasomnias

Abstract

Sleep-related hallucinations are a type of perceptual experience that occurs during transition to sleep or at awakening and can be of any sensory modality. Hypnagogic hallucinations occur at sleep onset while hypnopompic hallucinations occur at awakening. Nocturnal hallucinations have been reported in normal individuals, however, they occur more frequently in patients with various clinical conditions, especially in narcolepsy. Evaluation of sleep-related hallucinations involves comprehensive clinical assessment with laboratory investigations when other neurological or sleep disorders are suspected. There is no specific treatment for sleep-related hallucinations. In most uncomplicated cases they resolve with reassurance. Management of underlying causes of hallucinations is usually effective in reducing their frequency and intensity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 229.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Mahowald MW, Woods SR, Schenck CH. Sleeping dreams, waking hallucinations, and the central nervous system. Dreaming. 1998;8:89–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Ohanyon MM, Schatzberg AF. Prevalence of depressive episodes with psychotic features in the general population. Am J Psychiatry. 2002;159:1855–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Pope HG, Lipinski JF. Diagnosis of schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness. A reassessment of the specificity of “schizophrenic” symptoms in the light of current research. Arch Gen Psychiatry.1978;35:811–28.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Keck PE, McElroy SL, Havens JR, et al. Psychosis in bipolar disorder: phenomenology and impact on morbidity and course of illness. Compr Psychiatry. 2003;44:263–69.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Thanvi BR, Lo TC, Harsh DP. Psychosis in Parkinson’s disease. Postgrad Med J. 2005;81:644–46.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lyketsos CG, Steinberg M, Tschanz JT, et al. Mental and behavioral disturbances in dementia: findings from the Cache County study on memory in aging. Am J Psychiatry. 2000;157:708–14.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Sartorius N, Shapiro R, Jablensky A. The international pilot study of Sch. Sch Bulletin. 1974;11:21–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Tien AY. Distributions of hallucinations in the population. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 1991;26:287–92.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Posey TB, Losch ME. Auditory hallucinations of hearing voices in 375 normal subjects. Imag Cogn Pers. 1984;3:99–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Bentall RP, Slade PD. Reality testing and auditory hallucinations: a signal detection analysis. Br J Clin Psychol. 1985;24:159–69.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Young HF, Bentall RP, Slade PD, et al. Disposition towards hallucinations, gender and IQ scores. Pers Invivid Dif. 1986;7:247–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Millham A, Easton S. Prevalence of auditory hallucinations in nurses in mental health. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 1998;5:95–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. García-Ptacek S, García Azorín D, Sanchez Salmador R, Cuadrado ML, Porta-Etessam J. Hallucinations and aberrant perceptions are prevalent among the young healthy adult population. Neurologia. 2013 Jan-Feb;28(1):19–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Honig A, Romme MA, Ensink BJ, et al. Auditory hallucinations: a comparison between patients and nonpatients. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1998;186:646–51.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Johns L, Hemsley D, Kuipers E. A comparison of auditory hallucinations in a psychiatric and non-psychiatric group. Br J Clin Psychol. 2002;41:81–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Maury LF. Des hallucinations hypnagogiques (in French). Ann Med Psychol (Paris). 1848;11:26–40.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Myers FW. Sleep, human personality and its survival of bodily death. New York: NY Longman; 1903. p. 125.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Ohayon MM. Prevalence of hallucinations and their pathological associations in the general population. Psychiatry Res. 2000;97:153–64.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Ohayon MM, Priest RG, Caulet M, Guilleminault C. Hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations: pathological phenomenon? Br J Psychiatry. 1996;169:459–67.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Mavormatis A. Hypnagogia—the unique state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep:. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul; 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Manford M, Andermann F. Complex visual hallucinations. Clinical and neurobiological insights. Brain. 1998;121 (Pt 10):1819–40.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Silber MH, Hansen MR, Girish M. Complex nocturnal visual hallucinations. Sleep Med. 2005;6(4):363–6

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Goetz M, Prihodova I, Hrdlicka M. Long lasting complex nocturnal hallucinations during Osmotic Release Oral System (OROS) methylphenidate treatment in a 7-year old girl. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2011;32(5):619–22.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Goswami M. The influence of clinical symptoms on quality of life in patients with narcolepsy. Neurology. 1998;50(2 Suppl 1):31–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Dahmen N, Kasten M, Mittag K, Muller MJ. Narcoleptic and schizophrenic hallucinations. Implications for differential diagnosis and pathophysiology. Eur J Health Econ. 2002;3(suppl 2):94–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Fortuyn HAD, Lappenschaar GA, Nienhuis FJ, Furer JW, et al. Psychotic symptoms in narcolepsy: phenomenology and comparison with schizophrenia. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2009;31:146–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Leu-Semenescu S, De Cock VC, Le Masson VD, Debs R, Lavault S, Roze E, Vidailhet M, Arnulf I. Hallucinations in narcolepsy with and without cataplexy: contrasts with Parkinson’s disease. Sleep Med. 2011;12(5):497–504.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Yasui-Furukori N, Kusunoki M, Kaneko S. Hallucinations associated with modafinil treatment for narcolepsy. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2009;29(4):408.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Hsieh CF, Lai CL, Lan SH, Liu CK, Hsu CY. Modafinil-associated vivid visual hallucination in a patient with Kleine-Levin syndrome: case report. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2010;30(3):347–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Prado E, Paholpak P, Ngo M, Porter V, Apostolova LG, Marrocos R, Ringman JM. Agitation and psychosis associated with dementia with Lewy bodies exacerbated by modafinil use. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2012;27(7):468–73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Toner LC, Tsambiras BM, Catalano G et al. Central nervous system side effects associated with zolpidem treatment. Clin Neuropharmacol. 2000;23(1):54–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Inagaki T, Miyaoka T, Tsuji S, et al. Adverse reactions to zolpidem: a case reports and a review of the literature. Prim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry. 2010;12(6):PCC.09r00849.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Elko CJ, Burgess JL, Robertson WO. Zolpidem-associated hallucinations and serotonin reuptake inhibition: a possible interaction. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 1998;36(3):195–203.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Bonnet C. Essai analytique sur les facultes d l’ame. Copenhagen:Philibert;1760.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Menon GJ, Rahman I, Menon SJ, Dutton GN. Complex visual hallucination in the visually impaired: the Charles Bonnet syndrome. Surv Opthalmol. 2003;48(1):58–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Kazui H, Ishii R, Yoshida T, Ikezawa K, Takaya M, Tokunaga H, Tanaka T, Takeda M. Neuroimaging studies in patients with Charles Bonnet Syndrome. Psychogeriatrics. 2009;9(2):77–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Teunisse RJ, Cruysberg JR, Hoefnagels WH, Verbeek AL, Zitman FG. Visual hallucinations in psychologically normal people: Charles Bonnet’s syndrome. Lancet. 1996 Mar 23;347(9004):794–7

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Fénelon G, Alves G. Epidemiology of psychosis in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Sci. 2010;289(1–2):12–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Lhermitte J. Syndrome de la calotte du Pedoncule cerebral. Les troubles psycho-sensoriels dans les lesions du mésocéphale. Rev Neurol (Paris). 1922;2:1359–65.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Kumar R, Behari S, Wahi J, Banerji D, Sharma K. Peduncular hallucinosis: an unusual sequel to surgical intervention in the suprasellar region. Br J Neurosurg. 1999;13(5):500–3.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Parisis D, Poulios I, Karkavelas G, Drevelengas A, et al. Peduncular hallucinosis secondary to brainstem compression by cerebellar metastasis. Eur Neurol. 2003;50:107–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Mauguiere F. Scope and presumed mechanisms of hallucinations in partial epileptic seizures. Epileptic Disord. 1999;1:81–91.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Sowa MV, Pituck S. Prolonged spontaneous complex visual hallucinations and illusions as ictal phenomena. Epilepsia. 1989;30(5):524–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Waters WE, O’Connor PJ. Prevalence of migraine. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1975;38:613–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Russell MB, Olesen J. A nosographic analysis of the migraine aura in a general population. Brain. 1996;119:355–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Bliwise DL, Mercaldo ND, Avidan AY, Boeve BF, Greer SA, Kukull WA. Sleep disturbance in dementia with Lewy bodies and. Alzheimer’s disease: a multicenter analysis. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2011;31(3):239–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Sinforiani E, Terzaghi M, Pasotti C, Zucchella C, Zambrelli E, Manni R. Hallucinations and sleep-wake cycle in Alzheimer’s disease: a questionnaire-based study in 218 patients. Neurol Sci. 2007;28(2):96–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Mignot E, Nishino S. Emerging therapies in narcolepsy-cataplexy. Sleep. 2005;28(6):754–63.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Møller LR, Østergaard JR. Treatment with venlafaxine in six cases of children with narcolepsy and with cataplexy and hypnagogic hallucinations. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 2009;19(2):197–201.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Mamelak M, Black J, Montplasir J, Ristanovic RA. A pilot study on the effects of sodium oxybate on sleep architecture and daytime alertness in narcolepsy. Sleep. 2004;27:1327–34.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. The US Xyrem multicenter study group. A randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial comparing the effects of the three doses of orally administered sodium oxybate with placebo for the treatment of narcolepsy. Sleep. 2002;25:42–9.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Anna Ivanenko M.D., Ph.D.

  2. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 225 East Chicago Avenue, 60611-2605, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Anna Ivanenko M.D., Ph.D.

  3. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53326, USA

    Sachin Relia MBBS, MRCPsych, M.D.

  4. 6492 Bantry Bay St., Dublin, CA, 94568, USA

    Sachin Relia MBBS, MRCPsych, M.D.

Authors
  1. Anna Ivanenko M.D., Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sachin Relia MBBS, MRCPsych, M.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Ivanenko M.D., Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School, Associate Professor, Department of Neuro, Boston Children's Hospital, Longwood Avenue 300, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, USA

    Sanjeev V. Kothare

  2. Feinberg School of Medicine, Alexian Brothers Medical Center, Northwestern University, Biesterfield Road 800, Elk Grove Village, 60007, Illinois, USA

    Anna Ivanenko

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ivanenko, A., Relia, S. (2013). Sleep-Related Hallucinations. In: Kothare, S., Ivanenko, A. (eds) Parasomnias. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7627-6_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7627-6_14

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7626-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7627-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation