Exploding Head Syndrome Is Common And This Is How It Feels

Imagine you get back home late after a really long, exhausting day, and you finally get to crash on your bed. You are just on the brink of falling asleep. That's when it starts — you feel like your head is about to burst as you begin to hear a disturbing, loud noise that sounds like a gunshot or an explosion, and it's making you really scared.

This is exactly the experience of people with a disorder aptly named the explosive head syndrome.

"Bangs on a tin tray," "enormous roar," "whiplash," and "fireworks" are some of the terms used to describe the sounds reported by people with the condition, according to studies.

Now, it turns out the syndrome may be fairly common in college students. A new study published March 13 in the Journal of Sleep Research shows that about 16 to 18 percent of the 211 students in the study had experienced the condition at least once in their lives, or even more frequently.

"Some researchers have speculated that it is a rare condition that only occurs in older adults, but results from the new study indicate that it is not uncommon in younger, college-aged individuals," says study author Brian A. Sharpless, an assistant professor of psychology at Washington State University.

During an episode, a person may get a rapid heartbeat and may also start sweating. About 10 percent of the people with the syndrome also experience "alarming flashes of light that go along with along the explosive sound," Sharpless said. In some people, symptoms occur when they are about to wake up, as opposed to when they are about to fall asleep, and for many the experience can be quite unsettling.

"People report feeling almost on the verge of panic," Sharpless said.

In the most severe case Sharpless has heard of, a woman experienced about seven episodes of explosive head syndrome per night. "Clearly this was very disruptive to sleep and quite troubling," he said.

Right now, there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to the prevalence of the disorder, due to the scarcity of data that's available. "It's partly because people who experience the syndrome may be hesitant to report these symptoms to doctors for fear of embarrassment or being viewed as 'crazy,' and many doctors don't specifically ask about these episodes due to the perceived rarity of them," Sharpless said.

Moreover, the majority of scientific literature on the topic consists of individual case reports, as opposed to studies that assess large numbers of people, he said.

Although it is not clear what exactly causes the disorder, several theories have been proposed over the years. For instance, some researchers have suggested that it may have something to do with ear dysfunctions. Others have said it could occur as a side effect of withdrawal from certain antidepressants (SSRIs) or psychoactive drugs called benzodiazepines, Sharpless wrote in a review published in 2014 in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews.

According to the most popular theory, the disorder may be linked to neuronal dysfunction in the brainstem – the posterior part of the brain – that occurs when a person is transitioning from wakefulness to sleep.

Examples of successful treatment that have previously been reported in case reports involved the use of the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine or calcium channel blockers, according to Sharpless' review. Simply talking to patients and educating them about the condition may also be helpful.

The good news is that, "for most people, it is just an unusual experience that isn't going to be a problem in their lives," Sharpless said.

"For those of you who are troubled by it, it probably wouldn't hurt to consult with a sleep specialist," he recommended.

Author: Agata Blaszczak Boxe