Exploding Head Syndrome is a real medical condition that you yourself may be an unlucky
victim of, like me. Now the more sensible among you have likely guessed that the
name 'exploding head syndrome' is probably a bit hyperbolic. If you're not a sensible person and
you don't know what hyperbolic means - basically, Exploding Head Syndrome is essentially harmless.
Now it seems to me like an exploding head would inflict some level of harm to the owner of said
head, so what exactly is exploding head syndrome if it doesn't hurt you or the people in the
radius of your splash zone? Well, exploding head syndrome is a form of sleep disorder experienced
by people who are just waking up or just about to fall asleep when they're suddenly jolted
awake by a loud sound like an explosion, or a gunshot, or a cat falling on a piano.
This, understandably, causes intense fright, although if you've ever experienced this,
worry not, there probably wasn't an explosion or a gunshot, although if you have a cat you
should probably go check your piano for scratch marks. The loud noise experienced
during a bout of exploding head syndrome, is merely an auditory hallucination. Exploding
head syndrome is not painful, and as far as we're aware, isn't a serious health concern.
I say as far as we're aware because we don't really know a lot about exploding head syndrome,
and it hasn't been the subject of much research. If I were in the business of medical research
I'd probably have a condition called "exploding head syndrome" as my number one priority but it
wasn't always known as exploding head syndrome. It gained this name in 1988, coined by British
neurologist John M Pearce, who either wasn't very familiar with the concept of an explosion or used
clairvoyence to ascertain the name would make a very enticing title for videos on the internet.
Before that, the condition wasn't widely recognised, although the earliest known
description of the affliction dates back to 1876, when American physician Silas Weir Mitchell - no,
not the actor, his ancestor, reported "sensory discharges" in a patient who was between sleep
and... not sleep... wake. During the time before it gained its name it was often diagnosed as a
symptom of other sleep disorders or parasomnias. This lack of widespread recognition is attributed
to the fact that someone who experiences it is unlikely to go to the doctor about it,
and if they do describe it to a doctor, the doctor is unlikely to give too much of a hoot.
"Oh you were having a little snooze and you were disturbed by a loud noise, well that's
real interesting, maybe I'll tell the rest of my patients about it - oh wait they're dying of
tuberculosis. If you ever come to me with this nonsense again, you will wake up with a bang,
because I'll break into your house while you're asleep and smack you round the ears."
It was also originally thought that exploding head syndrome was a very rare condition,
most prevalent in women, although more recent research suggests about 10% of people have
experienced it and it has equal prevalence among the sexes, with women being content to corner the
market on exploding uterus syndrome instead. At 10% this means you have a decent chance of
experiencing exploding head syndrome yourself, a fact you can now use to impress and worry
your friends. I myself have experienced a form of exploding head syndrome. The times
it happened to me I was awoken by a voice in the room. It wasn't particularly loud,
my head was particularly unexploded, and overall it was more unsettling than frightening, so maybe
it wasn't exactly exploding head syndrome, but it did coincide with another sleep disorder I have
had which was indeed very scary: sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is basically when you wake up and
can see the room around you but can't move. This is already terrifying but it can be accompanied
by auditory hallucinations like exploding head syndrome, and the two conditions may be in some
way related. I personally have heard people screaming, knocking on the door and voices in
the room. Some people also experience visual hallucinations, seeing shapes or figures,
and in extreme cases, these hallucinations can attack the paralyzed victim. Now,
watching my videos has probably given you the impression that I am a psychological powerhouse,
but my experiences with both sleep paralysis and exploding head syndrome occured during periods
where I was plagued with fatigue and stress. And this is one of our best guesses as to
what causes exploding head syndrome: stress. Stress, fatigue, anxiety, or really any sort
of disturbance in your sleeping patterns may cause the auditory hallucinations that wake you up with
a fright. But we really don't know that much about exploding head syndrome or what causes
it. Some theories have suggested it may be caused by a minor seizure affecting the temporal lobe,
or an ear dysfunction like a sudden shift in the middle ear, but the consensus now seems to
lean more towards a psychological cause. As for treatment, well.... good luck,
basically. There's been no clinical trials for the treatment of exploding head syndrome. Our
best guess right now is simply reassurance. The prognosis for exploding head syndrome is,
paradoxically, good. Now that is reassuring. While an experience of exploding head syndrome
can be very frightening, it's not really going to cause any harm,
because it's just a hallucination. So... y'know... don't blow your top.
Exploding head syndrome is a mystery to us, but we also kind of don't care much to solve
that mystery. This is partly because it's considered harmless, so it's not really a
top priority. But a large part of it is due to its lack of recognition. A lot of people
who've experienced it don't bother going to the doctor because if it doesn't happen that often
then it's not really a big deal. This has lead to an absence of a vast library of case reports that
can be studied. It was only in 1988 that somebody really recognised it as a single, unique condition
and gave it a detailed description and a silly name, and even now it's not that well known,
so it probably still goes largely unreported. But now you know about it, and if you have it,
you can explain it to a doctor and add your case to the growing list of reports,
and maybe someday cases of exploding head syndrome will be so well documented that there'll be more
research into it. Of course it's advisable to only go to the doctor if it's a problem for you,
like if it happens a lot, because don't forget, doctors are generally pretty busy trying to help
people with serious problems. And also don't forget, doctors aren't very whimsical people.
As soon as research into this condition starts to gain traction we can kiss the name "exploding head
syndrome" goodbye. It's already been proposed to rename it "episodic cranial sensory shock",
and that is just no fun. Damn you medical professionals and your proclivity for fancy words.
Exploding head syndrome is funny to me, and in the end, isn't that all that really matters? Yes.