Hypnagogia — The State Between Wakefulness and Dreaming

Note: The contents and arguments made in this article are based on the observations of the experience found on the internet and other forums. They are not scientifically proven and it’s not advisable to experiment by purposely putting off sleep.

It’s not likely that we ever get much insight into how the brain deals with the massive amounts of information it’s presented but there is one state, normally caused by sleep deprivation that seems to reveal quite a lot.

That state is referred to as hypnagogia, a state in between being awake and sleeping.

In this article, we explain what exactly it means to be in a hypnagogic state, how it comes about, and most importantly what it tells us about how the brain works.

The Experience

Let’s first start with a story we found on the internet which documents someone’s experience of the state.

It was late. Way past my bedtime. I had spent the day on my feet despite not being able to sleep the night prior. I decided to numb myself with a bit of marijuana, hoping it would help me relax and finally get some sleep.

Anyone who knows me will tell you I’m a bit of a night owl, and my mind is always racing. I’m also aware that sleep deprivation and substances can sometimes lead to strange experiences. But what happened that night was something else entirely.

Earlier in the evening, as I was struggling to sleep, I’d already noticed the tell-tale signs of my sleep-deprived mind starting to play tricks on me. It’s something I’ve experienced before - after 24 hours without sleep, the line between wakefulness and dreams begins to blur. Random phrases and nonsensical images would flit through my mind, almost like half-remembered dreams intruding on my waking consciousness.

At first, I was concerned that I was developing schizophrenia which was long time fear of mine. The thoughts seemed like they were mine but I knew I didn’t produce them because they had nothing to do with anything I was doing. It wasn’t just the thought, there would be a voice accompanying it which was even more scary.

At that point, I realized I was having hallucinations and delusions due to the lack of sleep and I would later find out it was called hypnagogia.

With the added layer of cannabis, these hypnagogic hallucinations intensified. Shapes morphed and twisted, and snippets of nonsensical animations played out behind my closed eyelids. I think I saw Donald Trump at one point!

It was both intriguing and disconcerting, making it even harder to drift off. Eventually, I did manage to drift off when the experience had subdued.

So How Does it Work?

When you sleep, you normally achieve a state called REM which is when your brain goes through a process of consolidating memories, ideas, images your brain has collected and so much more. Your brain does this while you are awake also but it’s much more subtle.

When you miss out on sleep, you don’t give your brain time to engage in this much needed process which explains why some of the symptoms of sleep deprivation include grogginess and lower cognitive ability.

After a long enough time (normally in excess of 35 hours), your brain will attempt to proceed with much needed consolidation of memories and more but since you are not sleeping, and haven’t been for a while, it will do it while you are awake which is the scariest bit.

The reason you get to see the hallucinations and visuals is because your brain is tired, so its ability to filter out subconscious processes is substantially degraded.

In this state, you are both awake but dreaming.

What Do You See?

Like the story explained, you mainly experience visuals of seemingly random things like faces of individuals you might have met, family members, objects, and so much more.

People have reported seeing geometric shapes, patterns and colours that would resemble the effects of being on psychedelics.

These visuals will become more vivid depending on the degree of sleep deprivation. Full blown hallucinations are possible with long enough sleep delay.

Why is it Interesting?

At Asycd, we are immensely interested in psychology and the mind and so stories like this catch our imagination.

In a Hypnogogic state, you see how the brain works. It’s an almost infinite amount of your ideas, thoughts and memories being processed at once.

The crazy part is that despite the blurred lines of subconscious and conscious, you are only still experiencing a small part of what the brain actually does!

The experience can be quite unsettling especially if you do not know why it’s occurring. However, once you learn that it’s the brain reorganizing information, it can be quite comforting.

If you would like to learn more about it, you can refer to this detailed paper here.

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