![]() ![]() Or, in connection with sleep deprivation specifically, it could also be because the brain is so tired it enters a “mixed state of consciousness,” he describes.ĭespite how exhausted a person may feel, they can usually tell they’re hallucinating. Another possible reason is that it may have to do with changes in dopamine levels in the brain: “ Excessive dopaminergic transmission in certain brain areas seem to be the best understood mechanism for hallucinations," Dr. The thinking is that visual hallucinations may occur when certain parts of the brain responsible for visual functioning get disrupted. The exact brain mechanism at play during hallucinations in general isn’t understood. Experts don’t fully understand why hallucinations happen due to sleep deprivation. On rare occasions, though, they can be auditory or even tactile, such as when my legs felt itchy. Peters, who is also an adjunct lecturer at Stanford University, says most hallucinations are visual. But it’s not unheard of for sleep deprived people to hallucinate too.ĭr. Hallucinations are commonly experienced by people experiencing psychosis or those who have schizophrenia, people on a hallucinogen, or by people who have dementia. He explains that when you hallucinate, you are still awake and conscious, not asleep. Hallucinations are also not the same as waking dreams (which is when you enter a dream state but with your eyes still open), Dr. They are different than illusions, which is when someone misinterprets what they’re seeing, such as when you mistake a coat hanging on a rack for a person. “At first the perception seems so real there’s no need to doubt it.” “It’s an experience with a perception of something that’s not present,” Dr. Hallucinations aren’t quite as simple as just seeing something that’s not real. “Parts of the brain are working together in a chaotic way.” Yes, sometimes this can lead to hallucinations. “When we’re sleep deprived, it’s like the brain is on fire, like it’s on a stimulant drug,” he tells SELF. I should have known that I needed more sleep, but logic wasn’t really working for me at the time.Īccording to Emmanuel During, M.D., a sleep specialist at Stanford Sleep Medicine Center trained in psychiatry and neurology, our brains don’t function as they should when we’re sleep deprived. My confusion over the sadness of the breakup and the happiness of the new relationship was only compounded by my tiredness. I was emotionally spent from the breakup, but staying up almost all night with my new guy talking and getting to know one another I was exhausted every day but pushed through it in an effort to pretend everything was OK. I had just gotten out of a serious long-term relationship and immediately jumped into something new. I had only been sleeping a few hours a night for a couple of weeks at that point. I knew I had been tired and groggy leading up to this, but I thought you had to be seriously sleep deprived to actually see and feel frightened by things that aren’t there. It was obvious to me that I must have hallucinated, but because this had never happened to me before, I couldn’t believe it. ![]()
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