Exploding head syndrome is common in college students

Abstract

SUMMARYExploding head syndrome is characterized by the perception of loud noises during sleep-wake or wake-sleep transitions. Although episodes by themselves are relatively harmless, it is a frightening phenomenon that may result in clinical consequences. At present there are little systematic data on exploding head syndrome, and prevalence rates are unknown. It has been hypothesized to be rare and to occur primarily in older (i.e. 50+ years) individuals, females, and those suffering from isolated sleep paralysis. In order to test these hypotheses, 211 undergraduate students were assessed for both exploding head syndrome and isolated sleep paralysis using semi-structured diagnostic interviews: 18.00% of the sample experienced lifetime exploding head syndrome, this reduced to 16.60% for recurrent cases. Though not more common in females, it was found in 36.89% of those diagnosed with isolated sleep paralysis. Exploding head syndrome episodes were accompanied by clinically significant levels of fear, and a minority (2.80%) experienced it to such a degree that it was associated with clinically significant distress and/or impairment. Contrary to some earlier theorizing, exploding head syndrome was found to be a relatively common experience in younger individuals. Given the potential clinical impacts, it is recommended that it be assessed more regularly in research and clinical settings.

Subjective sleep‐related variables in those who have and have not experienced sleep paralysis

“…The fact that disruptive nocturnal behaviors (which includes vivid nightmares and episodes of screaming and terror during sleep) were also associated with sleep paralysis experiences suggests that sleep paralysis does not occur in isolation, but can also co‐occur with other ‘anomalous’ sleep experiences. This finding is consistent with other research showing that sleep paralysis is associated with a variety of other sleep experiences, including exploding head syndrome and lucid dreaming (Denis and Poerio, ; Sharpless, ). It is possible that underlying sleep disruption could lead to a multitude of unusual experiences, as well as possibly being related to underlying shared genetic factors (Denis et al ., ).…”

A clinician’s guide to recurrent isolated sleep paralysis

“… 13 Recent work has also linked SP to exploding head syndrome, another potentially frightening parasomnia. 14 …”

Migraine and sleep

“…Ранее считалось, что СВГ встречается редко, в основном у пациентов старше 50 лет, преимущественно у женщин [22]. И хотя масштабных популяционных исследований не проводилось, в работе B. Sharpless [24] был проведен анализ распространенности СВГ среди студентов. Было выявлено 211 верифицированных случаев СВГ, что составило 18,0% исследуемой популяции.…”