Seeing things at night...

[nik88]

Hi,

I have read different topics on this site for a while, but this is my first time actually posting 

I have had a long history of anxiety, although I've never paid it any attention and it's never been full-blown or bothered me until a few months ago.  I have a nine month old son and all of these problems started literally the day after I gave birth to him.  Sometime later I will go through all of that, but right now I have a symptom that is really freaking me out.

A few months ago I started to have a really hard time sleeping, specifically because I would twitch awake whenever I started to doze off.  This really put be into a panic and I had a few months where I more or less had insomnia related to it.  That is pretty much resolved, but about three months ago a new symptom started.  If I wake up in the middle of the night (which I usually do for a couple minutes, then go back to sleep) and look at the wall in the dark room, I see multiple little black circles (or "bugs" as I refer to them) spinning in circles up the wall or just moving up the wall.  The first time this happened I seriously thought there were a bunch of ants or something crawling up the wall and freaked out.  When I jumped up and turned the lights on they vanished.  Now, I'm used to it, and know it isn't real.  If I stare at it long enough, it starts to fade and go away.  I don't understand what this is!  I see them literally every time I wake up in the middle of the night, but only if the room is dark.  Is this some kind of hallucination...because I definitely don't think I'm hallucinating.  Night terrors?...but they don't scare me and they aren't associated with nightmares.  Is something wrong with my eyes, nervous system, etc?  I'm starting to freak out that something may seriously be wrong with me.  Any input would be greatly appreciated...thanks! 

[JunoX]

It sounds like static to me. I get static in my vision, real bad, when its dark. Its usually worse when I just wake up or my eyes have been closed for a long while. That is the only thing that can look like little ants vibrating. Sometimes static (visual snow) becomes concentrated on one point in your vision, like the direct area your looking at.

I have also had insomnia caused by jerking when dozing off. It use to scare me terribly but since I know that eventually I will go to sleep, my anxiety about it has waned and with that, its disappeared.

[Cheesus]

It's called hypnogogia (or hypnopompia when you're just waking up). They're hallucinations people experience on the verge of sleep or wakefulness. They can be in the form of: twitching awake (feeling like you're falling); auditory; visual; or tactile hallucinations.

They're absolutely normal and nothing to worry about at all. In my experience they occur more frequently during times of stress. I don't get visual hallucinations, rather if I am really, really tired or stressed, when I close my eyes to sleep my brain fills up with completely unjointed words and phrases that spiral out of control. When I was REALLY anxious the same thing happened but in front of my eyes with strange shapes and images popping up and disappearing rapidly and continuously. Moreover, I have had actual auditory hallucinations in these states where I have thought someone has actually spoken to me out loud.

A good tool I use to distract myself if its freaking you out is to listen to the radio. I find this gives my mind something to train on. I'm not sure this will work for you, however, as yours are visual. My girlfriend has visual hypnogogic hallucinations and she finds sleeping with the TV on mute gets rid of them.

Just to be absolutely clear: hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations are incredibly common (like a vast, vast minority of people experience them regularly and a majority of people will experience them on occasion). Moreover, they are more likely to occur, in my experience (i.e. my own personal experience and speaking with my girlfriend), when you are overly tired or stressed.

OR

Just read 0115's reply - it could be static too. Either way, very common and nothing to be concerned about.

[nik88]

Thanks, that does make me feel relieved.  I used to have episodes of sleep paralysis often, moreso when I was stressed.  That seems to have subsided and now I have these hallucinations.  Always something 

[WyattsMomma]

I have done this since I was a child. Hasn't killed me yet! Nothing to worry about hun :)

[sassparella]

I get this from time to time, though for me it doesn't have to be dark. I wake up and look at the wall and can see a round pattern outlined in black that tends to move or spin. I also have seen a spider crawling up the wall that has faded as I wake up and wasn't real at all. It can be scary to start with but I'm used to it now - though I'd rather not see spiders lol as I'm phobic.

[mollyfin]

I get this from time to time, though for me it doesn't have to be dark. I wake up and look at the wall and can see a round pattern outlined in black that tends to move or spin. I also have seen a spider crawling up the wall that has faded as I wake up and wasn't real at all. It can be scary to start with but I'm used to it now - though I'd rather not see spiders lol as I'm phobic.

Ditto.  In my case it tends to resemble a swirl of red suit playing cards spiraling around.  Weird, but I've been seeing it since I was a little kid, in the dark or just after waking.  I've always figured it was normal.  Whatever it is hasn't killed me yet, so...