Exploding Head Syndrome

According to the Journal of Sleep Research, this is not such a rare occurrence.

11:42 03 April 2015

Contrary to its almost comic sounding name, exploding head syndrome, according to a US study is experienced by a fifth of college students.

 

It had previously been thought that this syndrome affected older people but the study of college students shows that this is not the case.

 

The syndrome is characteried by a loud noise, "explosion," within the head, when falling asleep or waking up.

 

Of 211 students who were studied, 18% claimed they experienced exploding head on one or more occassions.

 

The study also found that as a result of experiencing the syndrome, there was a significant level of fear due to the sufferer's inability to understand where the noise originated from.

 

Some people were so unnerved by the experience that they became paranoid that the government were using energy weapons to mess with them.

 

A more medical opinion is that the syndrome is caused as a result of the brain experiencing difficulty shutting down or starting up.  The explosion noise, they suggest, could be due to the neurons activating simultaneously.

 

There is no treatment yet but spreading awareness could reduce fear of the syndrome.