Associations between exploding head syndrome and measures of sleep quality and experiences, dissociation, and well-being
Sleep December 13, 2018 Dan Denis, Giulia Poerio, Sarah Derveeuw et al. 25 citations
Exploding head syndrome, a sensory parasomnia where people perceive loud noises or a sense of explosion when falling asleep or waking, affects about 10-15% of individuals, with significant fear in some cases. Across two samples—199 female undergraduates and 1,683 international participants aged 18-82—lifetime prevalence was 37.19% and 29.59%, respectively, with monthly episodes in 6.54% and 3.89%. Insomnia symptoms and sleep paralysis frequency were consistently linked to the condition in multiple logistic regression models. In the larger sample, dissociative experiences during wakefulness and nightmares also showed associations. These findings offer initial insights into factors related to exploding head syndrome.