Unwanted Flashing Mental Imagery When Trying to Fall Asleep....

So this past Sunday, after a long hard weekend, I was completely exhausted and laid down to get some sleep.

Within seconds of closing my eyes, I began experiencing a phenomenon I've been through countless times, but never to such an aggressive extent....what I can only describe as a series of slide show images (moving and static) flashing continuously in my minds eye.

I've experienced such before, but never this rapid of a succession and though the images were of a benign nature (mainly sock puppet shows and a few disturbing clown images).

I was curious if any other ATS members have experienced this phenomena for themselves....a barrage of flashing moving/static mental images when trying to fall asleep.

Usually, I try to visualize a sunset or some nice serene nature scene when falling asleep, but no matter what I did, it seemed I couldn't focus on anything "positive" and it left me very stressed out that I couldn't block these unwanted images.

*It should be noted I had not been on the computer all weekend, so there is very little likelihood it was a layover from internet browsing....


(I'll do my best to monitor and respond to this thread as time allows, please forgive me if I'm not as attendant as I'd like to be....as my real world schedule is somewhat more demanding than usual these days...)

I've experienced similar thoughts. I usually will see people I've never met flash through my thoughts. It's odd to be awake and trying to fall asleep and have flashes of people you never met and wondering, did I just see that person and what they're doing now?

Deleted post

Its not the same, may be off topic.

Sorry

Happens to me too. Beware of exhaustion or it'll happen during the day.

May have something to do with the brain trying to clean-up the excess of short term memory from its unconscious part (where insctincts reside). «««« Hypothetical

reply to post by GENERAL EYES


I used to have something like this, but on awakening. It almost certainly was caused by a machine I was using, Lee crock's device, which is supposed to act in the manner of a hands-on healer. All it consists of is a piece of aluminum window screen covered by cloth (upon which the person lies), a battery pack, and a machine that connects the screen to one pole of the battery pack for 15 minutes, then the other, and so on.
The imagery consisted of many pictures with odd outlines, like some randomly constructed stained glass frame, and they would change every split second. This was accompanied by a feeling of distress, as if I were suffering the onset of a seizure.

There's a period in between being asleep and awake, like when you are trying to fall asleep, that it's normal to "see" things, whether in your mind or with your eyes, and hear things that are not there. It could also be some kind of stress or OCD, but you're probably just a normal human being.
When going to sleep, I've heard my name being called a few times, clear as day. But that's just how the brain works I suppose.

Definitely, it's one of the reasons I have messed up sleep habits. No matter how hard I try to think of beautiful things, I'm constantly bombarded by things I don't really want to see. They aren't too vivid most of the time but that may have to do with how my mind just loves to race and me trying to change what I'm seeing, and this tug-o-war makes things seem blurred. Even when I do win out, it's a brief victory. What are those images? I don't always remember by the time I fall asleep and wake up but there is sometimes a residual feeling of disorder. I'm not mortified or overly disturbed, as if I just know something deep inside, and when it comes to the front it's the feeling of "Yup, that's how it is."

I would embrace it for what it's worth. Most people aren't bothered by these things but those of us who are should probably take this as a sign or possible vision. I've personally seen some things that were very vivid, maybe during a lucid dream or just when closing my eyes, and they in fact did happen exactly as I saw it but this only happened maybe 5 or 6 times from what I can remember. It kind of acted as a seat belt so I didn't get splattered when it did happen. Those few times I had such an experience that played out soon after, I would either look up or just close my eyes and say, "You warned me."

Could be a burst of endogenous '___' in your brain, it's a natural brain hormone that produces extremely vivid visual images

I've had similar stories to what you have OP, but mine were not Visual images. It happens when I'm reading or doing other stuff and I'm just about to fall asleep, and I hear all these voices that people have said in the recent past. Quite exciting, really.

Whoa! I grew up with this kind of thing. Though I sometimes still have the imagery, it first started out with what sounded like thousands of voices. I never learned to control it until I was about 27 or 28. Once I could control it, another strange thing happened. . .I know this sounds weird, but, I can see whether or not my eyes are closed. It's more or less just an energy field, but the objects in any given room disperse various wave patterns, and it took a long time before I could distinguish what field went with what object.

I used to make notes of those images, because I knew that within a day or two, they would sometimes manifest "out here". Others would sometimes become the basis for a story or a phtography project. . .some works of which I've sold for decent amounts of money!

As well, the imagery has progressed to full on video lasting 2-3 seconds. No matter how much ambien I take, my mind never, ever stops. While that is sometimes a negative issue, it has its benefits as well.

You mean that isn't normal? Seriously, I see these sort of images all the time, not just when sleeping. I just close my eyes and I see them.. it's kind of like flipping channels on the TV. Sometimes there is audio as well.

I guess I figured that everyone experienced this.

I've gotten a similar thing periodically for most of my life. It was very intense when I was small. It also came with what I can only call thundering in my head. When I was little, I'd see flashes of a large boulder tipping over, a herd of zebras stampeding, a tornado made of teddy bears, and bunches of other wanky stuff. What I get now is a lot more abstract, flashes of rolling, swirling images that I can't see in my mind's eye long enough to process. There's still the thundering. I learned a few years ago that if I count my breaths up to twenty and back down again a few times, whilst tapping my finger on my arm in time with the counting, or even tapping the wall, that distraction makes it stop long enough to fall asleep. It's still a pain in my royal Irish behind.

I didn't know other people got it lol...kinda...comforting, in a way.

24/7 365 here. The only difference is that I can't control the objects so that they stay in the same position. They're moving hyper fast and transforming nonstop.

I've noticed that whenever I become exhausted, the imagery is more intense. Think maybe this is because your body is attempting to adapt by giving you a higher than normal dose of dmt and more rapidly as well. This allows us to consolidate our memories more efficiently, so we can get through whatever strenuous activities which are ongoing.

That's my best guess. Either funky adaptations, else aliens probing your mind and implanting images.



Haha!!

reply to post by GENERAL EYES


Hey GE

I have had sort of the same experiences, I wrote a thread on it.

I went to the doctors about it (eventually) but he she told me it was due to the pain killers (tramadol) I was on. Anyway i've stopped taking them now but the "visions" haven't stopped the've calmed down and I don't get it as often but I still see them. I have learnt to live with it.

On any meds?

ALS

reply to post by Nomad451


That makes sense. I hadn't even thought of that!

reply to post by ALOSTSOUL


Yes, I'm taking Abilify daily and Zoloft.

The rapid images were so intense they were overriding my meds and I had to go in for re-stabilization. Atavan knocked them right out and a few days of rest cleared everything right up...it scared me a bit because the flashing was so vivid and fast that it was preventing me from sleeping and felt like a trigger to a manic episode.

Only after isolating myself in a dark room with relaxing music did the images cease, but it was still enough of a scare I saw my doctor post-haste.

I'm feeling a lot better now, so it's ok....it just was a bit of a scare.

Most likely your brain is being overbombarded with signals

Since this is a chemical bombardment

Either you are administering chemicals that are messing with your brain or your brain is over producing certain chemicals

The brain is a wonderful thing when allowed to function free from radical prescription medication

Are you Bi-polar or suffer from Post traumatic stress?

You may have had a side effect from the drugs but it could have been (and likely was) a combination of exhaustion and your illness.

Glad to here your better.

ALS

reply to post by GENERAL EYES

no need to respond to my posts less I have a pertinent question.
Yeah, recently I do that before waking up mostly..saw what I thought was a young female teacher..and
saw a sentence that was somewhat scrambled..could not recall it after waking completely up..need a pad
and pencil my friend..this may offer some margin of taking control over the situation maybe triggering
an off button of sorts in your brain.
I claim to know nothing much about such things only the subject could be taken to a level of long and
boring..essentially proving nothing.
ps: I'm nearly 60 so most likely I will shrug some things off for more important mundane daily tasks.

I experienced this too, on a number of occasions. Amazing! And if I let the slideshow go on, I see so many different types of pictures, faces, scenes, locations, with so many details and colours. I really have no clue where they come from. Many things I`ve never ever seen before..

I don`t even try to control my mind to see the next `picture`. They just appear, evolve, transform...

Glad to know it`s not just me!

reply to post by GENERAL EYES


I always see unwanted visions before I fall asleep, I may see someone close to me doing something that would make me mad. I can't stand it but It's all psychological. I have nightmares about my biggest fears when I think too much about them (I don't mean things like snakes, Basically just visions of people I know doing stupid things like selling themselves out etc).