Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsAuditory HallucinationsTypes of VoicesWhy It HappensTreatmentFAQ
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Auditory Hallucinations
Types of Voices
Why It Happens
Treatment
FAQ
Hearing voices or sounds that aren’t there, also referred to as auditoryhallucinations, can be scary and confusing, especially at night. You might not realize right away that they are happening inside your head, and not everyone will hear the same kinds of voices.
While it is a symptom of certain mental health conditions, other more common reasons that might be causing someone to hear voices are medical conditions such as narcolepsy, infections, lack of sleep, recent bereavement, and fever.
This article will discuss auditory and sleep hallucinations in children and adults, the types of voices people hear, why these hallucinations occur, and how conditions that cause them may be treated.
Verywell / Jessica Olah
What Are Auditory Hallucinations?
Auditory hallucinations involve hearing noises that have no physical source. This may involve hearing a voice speak to you and could be positive, negative, or neutral. While some people hear voices that direct them to do something, that is not the experience for everyone.
Auditory hallucinations can also involve experiencing a distorted sound. Sounds can be anything from footsteps tomusicor tapping.
Sleep Hallucinations
Some people experience hallucinations just as they’re falling asleep (calledhypnagogichallucinations) or just as they start to wake up (hypnopompichallucinations). These are thought to occur due to your brain being partly in a dreaming state and in themselves are nothing to worry about.
Normally, sleep hallucinations are visual, but they can also be auditory.If you are hearing a voice or voices, they will usually be saying something brief, such as your name. You might also see strange things or misinterpret things you can see. These experiences usually stop as soon as you are fully awake.
Sleep hallucinations are particularly common in people withnarcolepsyand are also associated with insufficient sleep orinsomnia.However, they can occur in people without narcolepsy or another disorder.
Sleep Paralysis
Sleep paralysisis a temporary state that occurs in periods between sleep and wakefulness. During sleep paralysis, a person suddenly emerges from sleep and is conscious but unable to move or speak.
Sleep paralysis commonly occurs during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep. REM sleep is a time when vivid dreaming occurs, but the body’s muscles are “turned off” to prevent you from acting out your dreams.
If you awake suddenly during REM, you may regain awareness while your muscles still feel paralyzed. Hallucinations commonly occur during sleep paralysis, almost as if you are dreaming while awake.
The hallucinations may be auditory. Some people have reported sensations of flying, being choked, or of a disturbing presence in the room. Episodes may last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.
What Are Hypnopompic and Hypnagogic Hallucinations?
In Children
Hallucinations can sometimes occur in children who are ill with afever.Contact your child’s healthcare professional if they have a temperature above 100.4 F and you think they are hallucinating.
In Adults 65 and Up
Older people who are ill may also experience hallucinations, which may start before other signs that the person is unwell. Illnesses that might cause hallucinations include achest infectionandurinary tract infection.
Types of Voices People Hear
The types of voices that people hear during auditory hallucinations at night will often depend on their cause. These include hearing:
Why Do I Hear Voices?
There are many reasons that you might hear voices. Remember, while it is a symptom of some mental health conditions, includingschizophrenia, there are more common causes of auditory hallucinations.
Common Reasons
Common reasons for hearing voices at night include:
Associated Conditions
Hearing voices at night may occur in these conditions and situations:
Therapy and Medication
The type of treatment recommended for hallucinations will depend on the kind of hallucination you’re experiencing, the underlying cause, and your overall health. In general, it’s likely that your doctor will recommend a multidisciplinary approach, meaning a combination of treatments.
Common treatments include:
Self-Care
You should also seek support from trusted friends and family members during hallucination episodes.
Lifestyle or behavioral changes, such as getting more sleep, drinking less alcohol, and exercising regularly, might also be suggested. These can help to decrease anxiety and stress, and will support you through your recovery.
Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
No. While auditory hallucinations are one symptom of schizophrenia, there are other, more common reasons why someone would hear voices. In an epidemiological study, only a quarter of those reporting hallucinatory experiences met the diagnostic criteria for a psychotic disorder, meaning the cause for the majority of people was something else.
Studies have estimated that between 5% and 28% of the general population may hear voices at some point in their lives.
6 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.DelRosso LM, Liegmann J, Hoque R.An anxious 17-year-old girl who hears voices only at sleep onset.J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(2):355-356. doi:10.5664/jcsm.6474Harvard Health Publishing.Sleep paralysis: Causes, symptoms, and treatments.National Health Service.Hallucinations and hearing voices.Traynor RM.Heard but not seen: tinnitus and auditory hallucinations.The ASHA Leader. 2018 December. doi:10.1044/leader.AEA.23122018.20Mental Health Foundation.Hearing voices.de Leede-Smith S, Barkus E.A comprehensive review of auditory verbal hallucinations: lifetime prevalence, correlates and mechanisms in healthy and clinical individuals.Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:367. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00367
6 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.DelRosso LM, Liegmann J, Hoque R.An anxious 17-year-old girl who hears voices only at sleep onset.J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(2):355-356. doi:10.5664/jcsm.6474Harvard Health Publishing.Sleep paralysis: Causes, symptoms, and treatments.National Health Service.Hallucinations and hearing voices.Traynor RM.Heard but not seen: tinnitus and auditory hallucinations.The ASHA Leader. 2018 December. doi:10.1044/leader.AEA.23122018.20Mental Health Foundation.Hearing voices.de Leede-Smith S, Barkus E.A comprehensive review of auditory verbal hallucinations: lifetime prevalence, correlates and mechanisms in healthy and clinical individuals.Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:367. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00367
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
DelRosso LM, Liegmann J, Hoque R.An anxious 17-year-old girl who hears voices only at sleep onset.J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(2):355-356. doi:10.5664/jcsm.6474Harvard Health Publishing.Sleep paralysis: Causes, symptoms, and treatments.National Health Service.Hallucinations and hearing voices.Traynor RM.Heard but not seen: tinnitus and auditory hallucinations.The ASHA Leader. 2018 December. doi:10.1044/leader.AEA.23122018.20Mental Health Foundation.Hearing voices.de Leede-Smith S, Barkus E.A comprehensive review of auditory verbal hallucinations: lifetime prevalence, correlates and mechanisms in healthy and clinical individuals.Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:367. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00367
DelRosso LM, Liegmann J, Hoque R.An anxious 17-year-old girl who hears voices only at sleep onset.J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(2):355-356. doi:10.5664/jcsm.6474
Harvard Health Publishing.Sleep paralysis: Causes, symptoms, and treatments.
National Health Service.Hallucinations and hearing voices.
Traynor RM.Heard but not seen: tinnitus and auditory hallucinations.The ASHA Leader. 2018 December. doi:10.1044/leader.AEA.23122018.20
Mental Health Foundation.Hearing voices.
de Leede-Smith S, Barkus E.A comprehensive review of auditory verbal hallucinations: lifetime prevalence, correlates and mechanisms in healthy and clinical individuals.Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:367. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00367
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