Hypnagogia
Hypnagogia is a state of consciousness that can occur when falling asleep . A person in the hypnagogic state can experience visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations , possibly without being able to move ( sleep paralysis ). Although the person is aware that they are hallucinating, in most cases they cannot respond to it. The term was coined in the 19th century by the French scholar Alfred Maury . The dream-like experiences in the waking up phase were called "hypnopomp" by the English writer Frederic WH Myers , among others .
The transition from being awake to the hypnagogic state is fluid. Even if awake thinking is predominantly abstract, it is accompanied by "vivid" thinking in the background. The outwardly directed attention is reduced, but abstract thinking is not completely switched off. Thoughts are lined up more loosely and in a more untargeted manner, more analogously than logically linked.
Hypnagogic perceptions
Hypnagogic perceptions are predominantly visual in nature. Also common are auditory perceptions in which z. B. words or sentences spoken in a strange voice are heard. Hearing phenomena are referred to as “conformal” if they are meaningfully connected to the simultaneous images. Otherwise they are considered "autonomous". Also haptic impressions can be adjusted along with pictures or alone.
Tactile hypnagogic phenomena or the perception of movement are far less common. Ernst Jünger mentions, for example, the occasional morning being shaken, which he describes as a "frisson" and which serves as evidence that he has reached a hypnagogic state. In some cases, smell and taste sensations are also described.
The psychoanalyst Herbert Silberer sees them as symbolic forms of expression and distinguishes between three groups: the "material" category, which reflects thoughts and ideas, the "functional" category, in which the psychological state (e.g. joy, fear) or psychological activities (e.g. inhibitions ) sign off. The third category is images that are triggered by physical stimuli. In particular, the functional and material categories are often linked.
Footnotes
- ↑ LFA Maury: Des hallucinations hypnagogiques, ou des ereurs des sens dans l'etat intermediaire entre la veille et le sommeil. In: Annales Medico-Psychologiques du système nerveux. Vol. 11, 1848, pp. 26-40.
- ↑ Richard Anders: Cloud reading. About hypnagogic hallucinations, automatic writing and other sources of inspiration. Wiecker Bote, Greifswald 2003, ISBN 3-935458-06-1 , p. 19
- ↑ H. Schultz-Henke: Dream Analysis. In: Jutta von Graevenitz (Ed.): Meaning and interpretation of the dream in psychotherapy. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1986, p. 242
- ^ V. Berg: In the third gear. Notes on Ernst Jünger's morning visions. Reproduced as a manuscript. San Lorenzo 2005.
- ^ Jean Paul: Complete Works. Munich / Vienna 1985, licensed edition Darmstadt 2000, II, vol. 2, p. 1035.
- ↑ Herbert Silberer: Problems of mysticism and its symbolism. Heller, Vienna 1914; Reprint: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1961, pp. 149ff.