Nearly 1 in 5 young people experience ‘exploding head syndrome,' study finds

Brian Sharpless, WSU assistant professor and director of the university psychology clinic, found that 18 percent of college students interviewed said they had experienced it at least once. Some said it was so bad that it significantly affected their lives, according to Sharpless.

“The study also found that more than one-third of those who had exploding head syndrome also experienced isolated sleep paralysis, a frightening experience in which one cannot move or speak when waking up.  People with this condition will literally dream with their eyes wide open,” the WSU news release said.

The results of the study, which is the largest of its kind, appear online in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Psychologists or graduate students trained in recognizing the symptoms of exploding head syndrome and isolated sleep paralysis interviewed 211 undergraduate students.

Sharpless said the disorder tends to come as one is falling asleep. Researchers suspect that it stems from problems with the brain shutting down.

The experience can be extremely frightening.

“Exploding head syndrome can last just a few seconds but can lead some people to believe that they’re having a seizure or a subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain),” Sharpless said. “Some people have worked these scary experiences into conspiracy theories and mistakenly believe the episodes are caused by some sort of directed-energy weapon."