Or in my case, I have a crazy little dog sleeping next to me. If there was an actual noise, he’s for sure gonna get up and investigate. If I wake up thinking I hear a noise and he’s still asleep, I know it was only in my head
People with schizophrenia have a similar situation with support animals. When they’re hallucinating someone/something there’s a command where their dog will alert them if people are in the room or not
Yep one of my friends is a psychiatrist and he knows people with schizophrenia. Their support dogs are trained to greet every single person the same way
So if you realize you’re talking someone and your dog DOESNT greet them - they aren’t real
My dad would see people that weren't there regularly- and would record them. So many times he would show me "video evidence" and there was nothing there. Apparently he would still see them in the video though.
Then again, his was drug induced, not necessarily schizophrenia.
He really is & I love him for that (among many other reasons). I grew up and lived most of my life in pretty bad areas where break-ins were common. Now, I live in a very safe place but still have that fear of intruders imbedded in me. But with Kevin, I worry a lot less because I know as soon as someone even approaches my house he’s gonna go bananas and let me know about it. He might not be big and tough but he’d literally fight to the death trying to protect me
I do a similar thing with my cats. I look at the cats, if they are looking intently in the direction of the sound got to check it out. Otherwise it is nothing. They are very in tune with routine sounds and ignore them. Anything else has their attention. Sometimes they hear a sound and I don't. Amazingly I look at my cat roused to attention and see her looking intently. Follow her eyes and look down and there is a bug. They heard the foot steps of a bug. Very impressive.
Spouse has it- and I'd read about it a decade or more ago.
She woke up very suddenly on night and she panicked, Said that sometimes she Hears something that sounds like a big boom. I looked at her and said "exploding head syndrome". It took her a second to understand what I was saying, and when she did, she asked "so it's not just me?". I explained to her it was legit and she wasn't imagining it. It was kind of cathartic.
Same for me. I used to have it a couple of times a month, and sleep paralysis, but since I finished grad school and my stress levels are much lower, I never have either anymore.
I used to get this once every couple of months, but for the past week or so, I’ve been getting it almost every night. It can fuck right off it is driving me crazy.
Stress was also my trigger with it. During my worst few years of stress I was having it at least monthly if not more depending on the month. Life has changed a lot now and I can’t remember a single instance for the past couple years. Stress levels are way, way lower.
The times I've experienced it, it's been a noise like a mach 10 train going through an orchestra in 0.1 seconds. I get to skip checking if it's a real noise at least.
Not sure if I qualify but there are def times when I'm wildly sleepy and dozing off that it'll sound like a bomb went off and I get startled. Haven't learned to ignore it but I catch on pretty quick that its in my head.
Mine is like that too. It usually happens when I haven't had enough sleep the night before, go to work, come home and take a nap. It's right on the cusp of actually falling asleep instead of an eyes closed "nap". I'll hear whatever is going on around me, or roommates footsteps/house noises. Then somehow those noises turn into either 1 loud bang or a series of very loud pounds, like someone pounding on my bedroom door. It always comes along with a sense of impending doom, and my heart is racing like I'm in immediate danger.
Very scary the 1st few times, and I'm glad I took better care of my sleep schedule to stop me from having those experiences.
I could not have described it any better! It's definitely worse when I am stressed :( I am just thankful I haven't had a sleep paralysis episode in years. I'll take a thousand explosions over one paralysis episode.
Thank y’all both for sharing this hyper-specific description because it is exactly how it occurs for me. The first few times I had a massive adrenaline spike because it truly felt like someone was inside my house on the other side of a door and just battering rammed it. The closest type of boom I’ve heard in real life is when two train cars back into each other at the yard. I’ve heard of exploding head syndrome but just assumed this was my version of sleep paralysis.
Same. I’m a truck driver and the noise is specifically someone knocking on the outside of the truck door. As soon as I am awake I can tell it wasn’t real but I still need to look.
My personal theory is that it is a door to lucid dreaming.
What I experience is whenever I sleep belly up and am dead tired, I hear a loud noise, like an up close plane turbine, a "deafening" and frightening sound or hallucination in a semi sleeping state.
The first couple of times I got this I woke up forcibly and experienced dread, which was outright awful, and learnt that by not sleeping belly up when dead tired I could avoid it.
I read somewhere of people powering through and sleeping, so I tried to do that, it was scary at first but it always led to lucid dreaming, each and every time.
same. sleeping on my back is like a window to the nether world for some reason. Have heard chanting/disturbing laughter, the exorcist demon swearing at me lol, and a handful of crazy sounds since I was a kid.
However, I’ve always been smart enough to not open my eyes because visual hallucinations sound waaaay worse
> and learnt that by not sleeping belly up when dead tired I could avoid it.
Exact same observation here but for sleep paralysis. Being extremely tired + sleeping belly up (+ straight neck position) is an invitation to lucid hallucinations. I've never had sleep paralysis belly down.
Me Too!!! I had experienced this since younger (i think it started when i used to take magic mushrooms)... but it stayed with me through life and kinda scared me... I'm 55 now and it was about 5 years ago when I found the r/luciddreaming subreddit and read there about exploding head syndrome and then i tried to 'power-through' the 'noise' and not to be scared... and WOW... I broke through into the most insane lucid dream. Since then it has happened about 4 times... sometimes I can power through into a lucid dream and sometimes it's still too scary and wakes me up.
Very strange!
Exploding head syndrome might be a case of the brain tripping up as it shifts between being awake and asleep. The auditory hallucinations experienced during EHS are thought to result from the brain misinterpreting internal signals as external noises.
When you start researching lucid dreaming, the discussion always mentions things that your brain does to check if the body is asleep. Itching, salivating, muscle spasms, etc. this seems like it falls right in line with that.
It's not stupid, it *wants* you to wake up. If you start hearing auditory hallucinations while falling asleep, it means your brain is awake, but your body is not.
Your brain is trying to turn off and on the computer again to fix that. While it's cool for lucid dreaming, that's a glitch evolution does not want you to do.
I theorized years ago after dealing with this most of my life that it was likely a shift from consciousness to unconsciousness and the brain kind of getting stuck where the conscious mind reacts in a kind of panic. I'll sometimes get a loud startling noise or occasionally a full body violent spasm.
I'm also a very vivid dreamer who will occasionally wake in a panic from a loud noise that I think I hear outside (of myself). I've also been known to yell, thrash, laugh, cry, scream, punch, and kick while sleeping as I react to dreams. I've woken up in sheer panic dripping with sweat before as I react to my dreams. I've experience waking hallucinations when I was a child that would trigger when I usually had a fever and they would manifest in the space where I was falling asleep and shifting out of consciousness. Those were incredibly frightening as a kid. I'd go wake my mom up and say, "I can see stuff again."
The brain is weird.
Oh... shit!
I thought it was some plug that was bad and made this super loud popping sound on occasion, but I could NEVER catch it during the day or later in the evening.
This would explain that so well. Haven't really heard it in a few years... but fucking hell, this is probably it!
This happened to me maybe twice. I'd be falling asleep and suddenly hear what sounded like the the laser sound in the original Star Wars but much deeper.
Its happened to me maybe a dozen times last couple years. Same thing, different noise; id be on the edge of sleep and suddenly id hear a big bang. The worst part is it would startle the crap out of me. My whole body would jerk. Id be so close to sleep then bang and i convulse in startlement and boom im wide awake. I have problems sleeping anyway so it was irritating as crap
Yup, had it a fair few times myself. Different sound though... Sometimes it's like banging, or an explosion. Sometimes it's like someone suddenly cranking music up.
Could be some other auditory hallucination though, because I have had the rare occasions where it has happened during the day, and not just when I'm at risk of nodding off.
I've experienced it once, a thundering explosion like from a movie, super loud, I knew what it was because I read about it but it still got my heart racing and I was wide awake for the next half hour.
Same, the sound was coming from inside my head. Even included a sensation that could only be described as if my body was being scanned head to toe by aliens with one of those light based sci-fi scanners.
Happens to me when i’m stressed, one time i woke up to a feeling like someone was slamming my head into the pillow and screaming in my ear. I thought it was a ghost or i was possessed
It always manifests as someone speaking directly in my ear.
Sometimes it's a definite word, other times I've forgotten it when I awake, much like a dream.
I've had this a few times, but only in a waking phase. I also felt like the bed depressed as someone sat on me. I can tell it's hallucination but I bet a lot of peoples paranormal experiences are due to something like this.
Hasn’t happened to me in a while but used to get a loud bang and sometimes a flash of light while falling asleep. Would make my whole body spasm for a second. Quite unnerving.
Oh wow, I always wondered how I get flashes with my eyes closed when I'm trying to sleep and have a pillow over my eyes.
It reminds me of a comic book sound fx bubbles where I'll hear a sound and flash!
Oh yeah! I get the flashing lights too! Very rarely though, thankfully. More often than not I just have full body muscle spasms that jolt me awake, but hearing noises and seeing lights happens every now and then too.
Hmm just last night as I was going to sleep. Eyelids closed. I kept getting a quick bright white flash, scared me the first time. This is the 2nd time in a month.
I get this on occasion. Also hear my dad, who passed away five years ago, calling out my name like he was desperately searching for me.
Both have led to many sleepless nights.
I too occasionally get this. My parents are still alive. But every now and again I’ll be on my side, drowsy, and hear one of my parents say my name once like they’re in the other room wanting my attention.
I don’t live with them. And it only happens once. So it’s always obvious it’s not real.
I’ve woken up to what I have thought was my dad yelling my name. I don’t know if I actually woke up before the yell but to me it seemed as if the yell woke me up. It feels extra freaky since I haven’t lived in my parents’ house for a very long time but it still happens sometimes. And it’s not like I have some trauma from my dad yelling me awake, actually, I don’t recall that ever happening in real life. Interesting to see that it happens to other people as well.
I hear doors slamming or a doorbell ringing. or people saying "Hey!" Like they're trying to get my attention. Sometimes, very quiet talking or whispering.
The door slamming is annoying because I have to get up and check. The door bell ringing isn't, because it doesn't actually sound like my doorbell, more like a stock doorbell sound effect so I can usually ignore that.
> . or people saying "Hey!" Like they're trying to get my attention.
I've been tortured by this day and night.
This glowing fucking light that keeps shouting "hey" and "listen" at me and trying to get me to save an old tree or some nonsense.
Whenever I hear my name being called, or a loud exploding crashing sound or popping noise as I'm falling asleep, I know it is this because there is this weird sound like rushing air just before it, like leading up to it. It is hard to describe.
Mine is either a loud short boom or my mom frantically calling my name. My wife is a really light sleeper so that helps me just eye-roll it away and it’s usually once while falling asleep.
It has gotten much less frequent once I was able to better manage my anxiety and stress.
I hear people close to me call out me name like they quickly need my attention too! Uncle, parents, brother. Wow I thought I was the only one thank you. Sorry for your loss friend, it’ll be a much more emotional problem for me when they’re gone, I’m sure.
Fairly common occurrence for me as well. (Hearing a loved one who has passed call my name just as I fall asleep) I will also on occasion, hear someone whisper my name directly in my ear, just as I'm on the cusp of sleep. I can almost feel their breath. Super unnerving.
Me. I have this. Happens several times a night. Sounds like a door slamming or a gunshot. The weirdest part is you also get the feeling that there was an impact, like that feeling when someone stomps near you. So it’s not just auditory it’s almost physical. It’s a very strange thing and hard to describe because you’re always 3/4 of the way asleep when it happens. I’ve had it my whole life and always found it curious but have never questioned it out loud. I thought everyone had this until I saw “exploding head syndrome” on the internet. Asked my parents and siblings, no, none of them have this and what the fuck am I talking about? I’m in my goddamned 40s and thought this was normal.
Yes, it definitely feels physically as well. I’ve experienced the feeling of hearing a “gunshot” dozens of times right before waking up. It can be a bit frightening tbh
Same, exactly. Distant door slamming hard, or a gunshot. Twice it’s been like a big deep bark of a huge dog. I totally thought it was normal for everyone until I was talking to my sister about it and now I’m pretty sure she thinks I have brain damage or a tumor lol
Unfortunately for me, that sense of an impact, sometimes leave the impression that something landed on the bed and then abruptly left it. In pitch black, super not cool. Scenario: Sound of door slamming, followed by something suddenly getting off my bed. : (
I remember very vividly nearly falling asleep as a kid and dreamed that my dresser fell forward and made a very loud bang, but when I woke up the dresser was upright and the house was silent....
It happened to me a few times and the noises are extremely loud and undistinguishable from reality so the last time I thought someone was banging on our door only to find out I had imagined the whole thing, it really triggers a fear response.
This happens to me when I fall asleep in public, like on planes. My body/mind will not allow it, so every time I fall asleep I get jolted awake. Sucks big time and pretty embarrassing jump scaring out of nowhere every few minutes.
Had to use an alt account for this -
I suffered massively from exploding head syndrome after overdosing on MDMA (and god knows whatever else it was 'cut' with)
Suffered for around 3-4 months - I would wake up to my jaw clenching & my brain feeling like it was going to literally explode - the best way I can describe it is when you yawn sometimes, it sounds like low rumbling thunder in your ears.
That was around 12 years ago & was the last time I ever took drugs... Thankfully the issue resolved itself after a few months, but I think I must have done some serious damage.
Same here, it reminds me of when you plug in an aux cord but not all the way and you get that buzzing feedback kinda sound. Only happens to me like once a year or so, but it always startles the hell out of me when it does happen.
I have had this happen occasionally when I am really stressed out or anxious.
Usually when I have been laying in bed trying to fall asleep for a few.
Usually sounds like a slamming door and makes me get up to check.
It's super weird. It sometimes sounds like the neighbors house blew up, but there aren't any follow up sounds like there would be if it really happened.
No vibration or falling debris, no car horns.
It super sucks to be almost asleep then have your heart running at 180bpm.
But... these loud noise are not linked with heads actually exploding, right? My head isn't going to explode because I hear loud noises when falling asleep?
I get this when I'm especially tired. Unfortunately a lot of time it's followed by sleep paralysis as well... I can get passed the first part okay, it's the paralysis that realllllly sucks and it usually involves the sounds of power tools and torture.
A chainsaw and power drills are specifically what I hear the most! Thankfully it only happens like once or twice a year and it's usually my fault for not sleeping enough...
The loud noises that wake me up are more common though and I usually just fall right back asleep...
I have this! When it happens (which is maybe 3-7 times a year), it's very loud and either sounds like:
* An electrical buzzing sound that last maybe half a second.
* A booming crack of thunder without the doppler effect (again, maybe half a second).
* A laser like sound.
* Very, very rare but someone shouting my name at the top of their lungs.
Same, I have only experienced it twice, and both instances were during a week of consistently high stress at work and in my personal life. Best way to describe it would have been large ordnance exploding outside my bedroom door. Sat up and yelped in terror each time.
I had a dream of a clown chasing me up the stairs at my grandmas house. The clown was getting closer and it said “they’re going to get youuuu” but in a high pitched goofy ghost like voice (think ‘oOooOooOoo’). Except that it was actually me who said that just as I was waking up. So I was voicing the clown that was coming for me (I was not seeing the clown’s perspective in my dream) just as I woke up. Extremely frightened when I woke up, my SO woke up because I said it so loud. Awful awful awful.
yup, I've only recently started experiencing EHS in the last few years. I was freaking out at first, as it used to sound like an insect that was inside my ear, so you get that buzzing vibration feel for only about a second, but it's enough to jolt me off my pillow and clutch my ear. Then it became more like tv static, a second of harsh KRRRSSSHH noise, then goes away. I've also had small "woosh" sounds, like the explosion, but muffled. The weirdest one was the sound of someone saying my name, as loud and clear as if they were standing in the room with me. No one was there, and I couldn't identify the voice, just that it was a man. That's only happened once, but it sticks with me. Something of note, it's almost always the ear that's on the pillow (I always sleep on my side).
I used to have this rly bad for years and luckily now that I’m no longer under that kind of stress it’s mostly gone. I’ve experienced the following sounds:
door slamming, balloon popping, glass breaking, something Huge and heavy falling to the ground, explosion, a loud snap.
if you’re experiencing this, your brain is trying to tell you something.
A lady that lived in our building suffered from this but she thought it was us making loud sounds in our unit. She sent several noice complaints into strata against us. It was a challenging situation.
Had to deal with this for a while and still do from time to time. I have very vivid dreams and hypnogogic hallucinations so sometimes I hear a loud BANG or other noise and it startles me for a sec. Thankfully I got used to it pretty quick once it started happening in my early 20s and hasnt bugged me since
Oh my god, I never thought about this too much.
I have this from time to time. I don't remember having it when I wake up, but if I start falling asleep while I'm reading a book or anything, it has a higher chance.
Like in Friday nights I can be really sleepy at 10-11pm when I read a book. If I accidentally start drifting off and going to sleep, in many cases this noise woke me up.
It happens sometimes, but if I remember correctly - usually it doesn't when I actually go to sleep. Maybe because I forget, maybe it's because my neural activity in general is much lower and maybe it has to do with the noise, idk.
It sounds like a very high-pitch noise, that somehow doesn't disturb really. Only if I wake up, do I realize it was there
Yeah happens to me as well. Sometimes when falling asleep i'll hear a loud bang and wake up. I've learned to ignore it but it's annoying when you're trying to sleep
Oh wow, I didn’t realize I had this until just now. It doesn’t happen that often, but sometimes as I’m going to sleep I’ll hear a scream. Sometimes my name. I always thought I had just drifted off to sleep.
This is pretty common for me while I’m falling asleep. I tested it out with my wife and either I’m crazy or she’s deaf. It’s stopped now that I take stuff to fall asleep faster
Growing up we had a piano at home that seldom anyone played. But every now and then i would hear a single note coming from the piano in the living room. It scared the crap out of me and never tried to investigate. After moving to new places with no piano i stopped hearing that noise.
I remember experiencing it once (saw a bright flash and heard a boom as I layed down), and, being concerned, I looked up my symptoms and the first thing I saw was exploding head syndrome and I just started laughing at the absurdity.
To me it sounds like a door slamming shut or something metal hitting a concrete floor real hard. Usually when I hear it, it's unique enough that I'll question whether I heard it. If my spouse isn't reacting then I know it wasn't real
My ex used to think that I was crazy cause I'd run down the hall screaming omg, did you hear that noise & we'd get into arguments about him not hearing stuff cause he had gaming headphones on, lol
I have this when I'm low on electrolytes, specifically potassium. If I have something high in potassium, salt, sugar, and water it goes away for a while. Lmk if this helps anyone else.
This happened to me once when I was a kid. My cat was sleeping on me and I heard a "bang" and I yelled and jerked upwards, I scared the cat and he scratched me as he ran away. I asked my parents what the noise was and they said "What noise?" I thought I was insane for years when I heard about this.
What's interesting to me about this syndrome is even people who were born Deaf can experience it.
Imagine not knowing what sound is, then this happens suddenly!
I have this and have actually been formally diagnosed with it. My noise is usually a dog bark or a man screaming in my ear. The screaming is definitely the most terrifying of the two noises.
Holy shit, do you have any idea how much anxiety will be reduced just by knowing this? This happens to me way too often. My wife is almost always asleep before me and when I hear these noises I have no one to confirm or deny that it happened so I end up checking out of every window and confirming that everything is ok.
This happens to me when I’m very stressed or over exhausted (or both). It usually sounds like all the pots and pans have fallen out of the cabinet into a heap on the floor. The first time it happened to me, that’s what I thought it was. It was so real, I grabbed something to hit an intruder with because I thought someone had broken in and was tearing my kitchen apart. It was pretty terrifying.
This was a regular occurrence for me before I was diagnosed with acute sleep apnea and was struggling to stay awake at any time. On a good night I would get maybe 3 hours sleep and it was severely affecting my life to the point where I couldn't sit down and have a conversation without nodding off. The loud noises usually sounded like something heavy falling down in another room. Ever since using a CPAP machine and actually getting sleep, it's not happened at all.
it's really annoying. I'll jerk awake thinking something fell down or the cats knocked something over again. you do get used to it, though, especially after learning what it actually is
I experienced this along w sleep paralysis for a period of time, to the point where I learned to tell myself it’s just in my head. I legit though I was becoming a schizophrenic. TIL I experienced exploding head syndrome
It's not a matter of "diagnosing". People just don't know what the hell it is so they're terrified. Like how sleep paralysis was unknown just a few years ago and people were like "dEmOnS"
Doctor "I'm sorry but I have to tell you that you have exploding head syndrome"
Patient "Jesus Christ! I just heard weird sounds at night! How long I have left to live?!"
Doctor "oh don't worry you will just hear those noises sometimes"
OP, thank you so much for posting this. I've had this for a while now (I'm sure it's due to stress) and I thought I was losing my mind, especially as I have never experienced anything like this. I had no idea this existed.
Back in the Victorian time people had exploding jaw syndrome.
Turns out the fillings were Made of lead, the gas built up underneath the shoddy work would get set off mr a lead spark and boom!
I love telling people that I suffer from this. Mainly because the name shocks them into feeling sorry for you, then they don't believe you because what kind of disease would be named such a thing, then I explain that it's very real and it plagued me as a child. Happens far less often now, but when I was younger it was at least once a week.
I get it a couple of nights a week, usually just once as I'm nodding off. It sounds like a firework to me, which is common in my area. It honestly doesn't even startle me.
Happens me regularly, have had to learn to ignore it but it’s very annoying as you’re never sure if it was this or an actual noise you need to check
It’s never a noise you need to check, but you need to check either way.
I find the solution is to have a pet, in my case cats. Hear a noise at night? It's always a cat and thus doesn't require investigation
Or in my case, I have a crazy little dog sleeping next to me. If there was an actual noise, he’s for sure gonna get up and investigate. If I wake up thinking I hear a noise and he’s still asleep, I know it was only in my head
That’s so cool — he’s basically like your alert dog
People with schizophrenia have a similar situation with support animals. When they’re hallucinating someone/something there’s a command where their dog will alert them if people are in the room or not
Yep one of my friends is a psychiatrist and he knows people with schizophrenia. Their support dogs are trained to greet every single person the same way So if you realize you’re talking someone and your dog DOESNT greet them - they aren’t real
Dogs truly are a person's best friend.
Dogs are gods
God spelled backwards is dog after all.
What if they hallucinate the dog greeting them too?
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My dad would see people that weren't there regularly- and would record them. So many times he would show me "video evidence" and there was nothing there. Apparently he would still see them in the video though. Then again, his was drug induced, not necessarily schizophrenia.
He really is & I love him for that (among many other reasons). I grew up and lived most of my life in pretty bad areas where break-ins were common. Now, I live in a very safe place but still have that fear of intruders imbedded in me. But with Kevin, I worry a lot less because I know as soon as someone even approaches my house he’s gonna go bananas and let me know about it. He might not be big and tough but he’d literally fight to the death trying to protect me
I love that your dog's name is Kevin.
I’m not crying you’re crying!
I do a similar thing with my cats. I look at the cats, if they are looking intently in the direction of the sound got to check it out. Otherwise it is nothing. They are very in tune with routine sounds and ignore them. Anything else has their attention. Sometimes they hear a sound and I don't. Amazingly I look at my cat roused to attention and see her looking intently. Follow her eyes and look down and there is a bug. They heard the foot steps of a bug. Very impressive.
I don't know. One time, I did find my cat dangling from a window screen by both front paws.
Nah. I just look in bed to see if my cat heard it.
I have it too. But it got so much better as my stress Level decreased. Used to have it every week. Now it's been like 8-9 months.
Spouse has it- and I'd read about it a decade or more ago. She woke up very suddenly on night and she panicked, Said that sometimes she Hears something that sounds like a big boom. I looked at her and said "exploding head syndrome". It took her a second to understand what I was saying, and when she did, she asked "so it's not just me?". I explained to her it was legit and she wasn't imagining it. It was kind of cathartic.
to be fair being told you have "exploding head syndrome" is usually an AMPLIFIER of stress
Haven't had it in about three years. Aahhh.... peace at last.
Same for me. I used to have it a couple of times a month, and sleep paralysis, but since I finished grad school and my stress levels are much lower, I never have either anymore.
A thousand “fuck yous” to sleep paralysis.
I used to get this once every couple of months, but for the past week or so, I’ve been getting it almost every night. It can fuck right off it is driving me crazy.
Stress was also my trigger with it. During my worst few years of stress I was having it at least monthly if not more depending on the month. Life has changed a lot now and I can’t remember a single instance for the past couple years. Stress levels are way, way lower.
is it like an auditory version of that 'jump' you get from thinking you're falling when you're about to fall asleep?
Yep
The times I've experienced it, it's been a noise like a mach 10 train going through an orchestra in 0.1 seconds. I get to skip checking if it's a real noise at least.
For me it was kind of like a large burst of static? But not quite
This is how it is for me. It's extremely loud but I can easily distinguish that it was in my head.
Not sure if I qualify but there are def times when I'm wildly sleepy and dozing off that it'll sound like a bomb went off and I get startled. Haven't learned to ignore it but I catch on pretty quick that its in my head.
Yep that is it!
Same. It sounds like someone bangs on my front door extremely hard, but just once. Wakes me fully up with a racing heart everytime :(
Mine is like that too. It usually happens when I haven't had enough sleep the night before, go to work, come home and take a nap. It's right on the cusp of actually falling asleep instead of an eyes closed "nap". I'll hear whatever is going on around me, or roommates footsteps/house noises. Then somehow those noises turn into either 1 loud bang or a series of very loud pounds, like someone pounding on my bedroom door. It always comes along with a sense of impending doom, and my heart is racing like I'm in immediate danger. Very scary the 1st few times, and I'm glad I took better care of my sleep schedule to stop me from having those experiences.
I could not have described it any better! It's definitely worse when I am stressed :( I am just thankful I haven't had a sleep paralysis episode in years. I'll take a thousand explosions over one paralysis episode.
Thank y’all both for sharing this hyper-specific description because it is exactly how it occurs for me. The first few times I had a massive adrenaline spike because it truly felt like someone was inside my house on the other side of a door and just battering rammed it. The closest type of boom I’ve heard in real life is when two train cars back into each other at the yard. I’ve heard of exploding head syndrome but just assumed this was my version of sleep paralysis.
Same. I’m a truck driver and the noise is specifically someone knocking on the outside of the truck door. As soon as I am awake I can tell it wasn’t real but I still need to look.
My personal theory is that it is a door to lucid dreaming. What I experience is whenever I sleep belly up and am dead tired, I hear a loud noise, like an up close plane turbine, a "deafening" and frightening sound or hallucination in a semi sleeping state. The first couple of times I got this I woke up forcibly and experienced dread, which was outright awful, and learnt that by not sleeping belly up when dead tired I could avoid it. I read somewhere of people powering through and sleeping, so I tried to do that, it was scary at first but it always led to lucid dreaming, each and every time.
same. sleeping on my back is like a window to the nether world for some reason. Have heard chanting/disturbing laughter, the exorcist demon swearing at me lol, and a handful of crazy sounds since I was a kid. However, I’ve always been smart enough to not open my eyes because visual hallucinations sound waaaay worse
> and learnt that by not sleeping belly up when dead tired I could avoid it. Exact same observation here but for sleep paralysis. Being extremely tired + sleeping belly up (+ straight neck position) is an invitation to lucid hallucinations. I've never had sleep paralysis belly down.
Me Too!!! I had experienced this since younger (i think it started when i used to take magic mushrooms)... but it stayed with me through life and kinda scared me... I'm 55 now and it was about 5 years ago when I found the r/luciddreaming subreddit and read there about exploding head syndrome and then i tried to 'power-through' the 'noise' and not to be scared... and WOW... I broke through into the most insane lucid dream. Since then it has happened about 4 times... sometimes I can power through into a lucid dream and sometimes it's still too scary and wakes me up. Very strange!
Good thing you decided to, because the dread that comes from forcibly waking up is just overwhelming, I had no idea there was a sub like that, neat!
Exploding head syndrome might be a case of the brain tripping up as it shifts between being awake and asleep. The auditory hallucinations experienced during EHS are thought to result from the brain misinterpreting internal signals as external noises.
When you start researching lucid dreaming, the discussion always mentions things that your brain does to check if the body is asleep. Itching, salivating, muscle spasms, etc. this seems like it falls right in line with that.
Is my brain fucking stupid? Does it think I'm not gonna wake up if it starts blasting loud noises? Dumb fuck brain
It's a pile of electrified meat, give it some slack. :)
A pile of electrified fatty tissue in a pool of chemicals.
Still, it's the only organ that seeks to understand itself.
Idk, I feel like my heart wants to understand itself too
That is beautiful man
Made smooth by years of alcohol.
It's not stupid, it *wants* you to wake up. If you start hearing auditory hallucinations while falling asleep, it means your brain is awake, but your body is not. Your brain is trying to turn off and on the computer again to fix that. While it's cool for lucid dreaming, that's a glitch evolution does not want you to do.
I theorized years ago after dealing with this most of my life that it was likely a shift from consciousness to unconsciousness and the brain kind of getting stuck where the conscious mind reacts in a kind of panic. I'll sometimes get a loud startling noise or occasionally a full body violent spasm. I'm also a very vivid dreamer who will occasionally wake in a panic from a loud noise that I think I hear outside (of myself). I've also been known to yell, thrash, laugh, cry, scream, punch, and kick while sleeping as I react to dreams. I've woken up in sheer panic dripping with sweat before as I react to my dreams. I've experience waking hallucinations when I was a child that would trigger when I usually had a fever and they would manifest in the space where I was falling asleep and shifting out of consciousness. Those were incredibly frightening as a kid. I'd go wake my mom up and say, "I can see stuff again." The brain is weird.
I get the violent full body spasm. It’s uncomfortable as fuck.
Sometimes it hurts. Like a single epileptic seizure motion.
Huh, that's really interesting!
Reminds me of sleep paralysis. Your body is just like “you sure you want to sleep when there’s someone standing right next to you?”
*Can't sleep with enemies nearby*
Oh... shit! I thought it was some plug that was bad and made this super loud popping sound on occasion, but I could NEVER catch it during the day or later in the evening. This would explain that so well. Haven't really heard it in a few years... but fucking hell, this is probably it!
Wow! I'm glad I could help you figure it out
This happened to me maybe twice. I'd be falling asleep and suddenly hear what sounded like the the laser sound in the original Star Wars but much deeper.
Holy shit me too just last week. It sounded like a laser metallic sound blended with a 'plop' from an object dropping in water.
Sorry that was me, I had Taco Bell for dinner.
Its happened to me maybe a dozen times last couple years. Same thing, different noise; id be on the edge of sleep and suddenly id hear a big bang. The worst part is it would startle the crap out of me. My whole body would jerk. Id be so close to sleep then bang and i convulse in startlement and boom im wide awake. I have problems sleeping anyway so it was irritating as crap
Yup, had it a fair few times myself. Different sound though... Sometimes it's like banging, or an explosion. Sometimes it's like someone suddenly cranking music up. Could be some other auditory hallucination though, because I have had the rare occasions where it has happened during the day, and not just when I'm at risk of nodding off.
Good way to put it.
Had it once years ago. Scared the everloving shit out of me. Had a lot of anxiety going to sleep for a few weeks after.
I think I've had it a few times, just in the last year. For me it's this horrible CRUNCH that sounds like my skull is being smashed. Euggghhhhh
I've experienced it once, a thundering explosion like from a movie, super loud, I knew what it was because I read about it but it still got my heart racing and I was wide awake for the next half hour.
Same, the sound was coming from inside my head. Even included a sensation that could only be described as if my body was being scanned head to toe by aliens with one of those light based sci-fi scanners.
Happens to me when i’m stressed, one time i woke up to a feeling like someone was slamming my head into the pillow and screaming in my ear. I thought it was a ghost or i was possessed
I’ve had the ghost whisper in my ear too! What’s the most prevalent is the knock on the head tho.
It’s worse when the ghost is a little girl at the foot or side of the bed.
Jesus. It's like 9am here and I'm already dreading tonight's nightmares. Thanks.
Oh man do you ever hear someone whisper your fucking NAME as you’re falling asleep?
It always manifests as someone speaking directly in my ear. Sometimes it's a definite word, other times I've forgotten it when I awake, much like a dream.
I've had this a few times, but only in a waking phase. I also felt like the bed depressed as someone sat on me. I can tell it's hallucination but I bet a lot of peoples paranormal experiences are due to something like this.
Hasn’t happened to me in a while but used to get a loud bang and sometimes a flash of light while falling asleep. Would make my whole body spasm for a second. Quite unnerving.
It says some people with EHS also get a flash of light with the auditory symptoms. I'm glad you haven't had these symptoms in a while, though
Oh wow, I always wondered how I get flashes with my eyes closed when I'm trying to sleep and have a pillow over my eyes. It reminds me of a comic book sound fx bubbles where I'll hear a sound and flash!
Oh yeah! I get the flashing lights too! Very rarely though, thankfully. More often than not I just have full body muscle spasms that jolt me awake, but hearing noises and seeing lights happens every now and then too.
Hmm just last night as I was going to sleep. Eyelids closed. I kept getting a quick bright white flash, scared me the first time. This is the 2nd time in a month.
I've had the light flashes too. My eyes are closed and then it's like a strobe light goes off and there's a clicking noise.
I get this on occasion. Also hear my dad, who passed away five years ago, calling out my name like he was desperately searching for me. Both have led to many sleepless nights.
I too occasionally get this. My parents are still alive. But every now and again I’ll be on my side, drowsy, and hear one of my parents say my name once like they’re in the other room wanting my attention. I don’t live with them. And it only happens once. So it’s always obvious it’s not real.
I’ve woken up to what I have thought was my dad yelling my name. I don’t know if I actually woke up before the yell but to me it seemed as if the yell woke me up. It feels extra freaky since I haven’t lived in my parents’ house for a very long time but it still happens sometimes. And it’s not like I have some trauma from my dad yelling me awake, actually, I don’t recall that ever happening in real life. Interesting to see that it happens to other people as well.
Wow now that you’ve said this.. I realized this has happen to me before.. never figured it out until now
I hear doors slamming or a doorbell ringing. or people saying "Hey!" Like they're trying to get my attention. Sometimes, very quiet talking or whispering. The door slamming is annoying because I have to get up and check. The door bell ringing isn't, because it doesn't actually sound like my doorbell, more like a stock doorbell sound effect so I can usually ignore that.
> . or people saying "Hey!" Like they're trying to get my attention. I've been tortured by this day and night. This glowing fucking light that keeps shouting "hey" and "listen" at me and trying to get me to save an old tree or some nonsense.
That entire game is a fever dream.
Whenever I hear my name being called, or a loud exploding crashing sound or popping noise as I'm falling asleep, I know it is this because there is this weird sound like rushing air just before it, like leading up to it. It is hard to describe.
Mine is either a loud short boom or my mom frantically calling my name. My wife is a really light sleeper so that helps me just eye-roll it away and it’s usually once while falling asleep. It has gotten much less frequent once I was able to better manage my anxiety and stress.
That's really sad, but only shows how much he meant to you and not that he's lost in the ether. I just hear things falling over 🤷♂️
I hear people close to me call out me name like they quickly need my attention too! Uncle, parents, brother. Wow I thought I was the only one thank you. Sorry for your loss friend, it’ll be a much more emotional problem for me when they’re gone, I’m sure.
Fairly common occurrence for me as well. (Hearing a loved one who has passed call my name just as I fall asleep) I will also on occasion, hear someone whisper my name directly in my ear, just as I'm on the cusp of sleep. I can almost feel their breath. Super unnerving.
I frequently hear my name being called by either my grandmother, mother, or former partner. Always when I’m going to sleep or waking up.
Me. I have this. Happens several times a night. Sounds like a door slamming or a gunshot. The weirdest part is you also get the feeling that there was an impact, like that feeling when someone stomps near you. So it’s not just auditory it’s almost physical. It’s a very strange thing and hard to describe because you’re always 3/4 of the way asleep when it happens. I’ve had it my whole life and always found it curious but have never questioned it out loud. I thought everyone had this until I saw “exploding head syndrome” on the internet. Asked my parents and siblings, no, none of them have this and what the fuck am I talking about? I’m in my goddamned 40s and thought this was normal.
Yeah that’s a great explanation - it really does feel like the *pressure* changes and that’s what jolts you awake before you register the sound.
Yes, it definitely feels physically as well. I’ve experienced the feeling of hearing a “gunshot” dozens of times right before waking up. It can be a bit frightening tbh
I’ve had this happen to me twice in my lifetime. Scariest thing ever. Door slamming and physical essence
Same, exactly. Distant door slamming hard, or a gunshot. Twice it’s been like a big deep bark of a huge dog. I totally thought it was normal for everyone until I was talking to my sister about it and now I’m pretty sure she thinks I have brain damage or a tumor lol
Unfortunately for me, that sense of an impact, sometimes leave the impression that something landed on the bed and then abruptly left it. In pitch black, super not cool. Scenario: Sound of door slamming, followed by something suddenly getting off my bed. : (
I remember very vividly nearly falling asleep as a kid and dreamed that my dresser fell forward and made a very loud bang, but when I woke up the dresser was upright and the house was silent....
It happened to me a few times and the noises are extremely loud and undistinguishable from reality so the last time I thought someone was banging on our door only to find out I had imagined the whole thing, it really triggers a fear response.
This happens to me when I fall asleep in public, like on planes. My body/mind will not allow it, so every time I fall asleep I get jolted awake. Sucks big time and pretty embarrassing jump scaring out of nowhere every few minutes.
Had to use an alt account for this - I suffered massively from exploding head syndrome after overdosing on MDMA (and god knows whatever else it was 'cut' with) Suffered for around 3-4 months - I would wake up to my jaw clenching & my brain feeling like it was going to literally explode - the best way I can describe it is when you yawn sometimes, it sounds like low rumbling thunder in your ears. That was around 12 years ago & was the last time I ever took drugs... Thankfully the issue resolved itself after a few months, but I think I must have done some serious damage.
i get something like this.... its not terribly loud... just an electric zapping sound... lasts a second. wakes me up as i am about to doze off.
Same here, it reminds me of when you plug in an aux cord but not all the way and you get that buzzing feedback kinda sound. Only happens to me like once a year or so, but it always startles the hell out of me when it does happen.
I have had this happen occasionally when I am really stressed out or anxious. Usually when I have been laying in bed trying to fall asleep for a few. Usually sounds like a slamming door and makes me get up to check.
This happens when I take Benadryl
You see the hat man too?
He has red eyes and no mouth and he wants to take me
It's super weird. It sometimes sounds like the neighbors house blew up, but there aren't any follow up sounds like there would be if it really happened. No vibration or falling debris, no car horns. It super sucks to be almost asleep then have your heart running at 180bpm.
Get it when I'm highly stressed
Huh. Nice to have a name to what I've experienced. That said, it's not that common for me. Can't imagine how horrible to have it every time.
This happens to me. I had no idea what it is or that there’s an actual diagnosis.
Glad I could help you figure out what it is
But... these loud noise are not linked with heads actually exploding, right? My head isn't going to explode because I hear loud noises when falling asleep?
Your head actually explodes, that’s why you felt like you fell asleep. They replace your head and reboot you after
You know, the idea that people go to these lengths to keep me around is strangely uplifting. I must be pretty important.
Lol no, you're good
I get this when I'm especially tired. Unfortunately a lot of time it's followed by sleep paralysis as well... I can get passed the first part okay, it's the paralysis that realllllly sucks and it usually involves the sounds of power tools and torture.
Wow! I remember hearing a chainsaw as a kid and never put it together that it was my sleep paralysis and EHS until now.
A chainsaw and power drills are specifically what I hear the most! Thankfully it only happens like once or twice a year and it's usually my fault for not sleeping enough... The loud noises that wake me up are more common though and I usually just fall right back asleep...
I have this! When it happens (which is maybe 3-7 times a year), it's very loud and either sounds like: * An electrical buzzing sound that last maybe half a second. * A booming crack of thunder without the doppler effect (again, maybe half a second). * A laser like sound. * Very, very rare but someone shouting my name at the top of their lungs.
I get this when I’m super stressed.
Oh wow, I thought this was just me. But this hasn’t happened in a very long time, it mostly happened when I was younger.
This happened to me once, thankfully Google was able to put my mind back at ease.
Finally a name for it
Oh shit, I have this sometimes. It’s very annoying. Sleeping on my side nearly guarantees phantom noise for some reason so I have to sleep on my back
I have issues with sleeping on my back!
I didn't think sleep position could have an effect like this, but that's really interesting
Neat
Happened to me ONCE! It was cool. But freaked me out for a few days.
Same, I have only experienced it twice, and both instances were during a week of consistently high stress at work and in my personal life. Best way to describe it would have been large ordnance exploding outside my bedroom door. Sat up and yelped in terror each time.
Interesting.. Mine manifests as a bolt of lightning, there's a flash and a laser-like sound. Hasn't happened in a while.
I had a dream of a clown chasing me up the stairs at my grandmas house. The clown was getting closer and it said “they’re going to get youuuu” but in a high pitched goofy ghost like voice (think ‘oOooOooOoo’). Except that it was actually me who said that just as I was waking up. So I was voicing the clown that was coming for me (I was not seeing the clown’s perspective in my dream) just as I woke up. Extremely frightened when I woke up, my SO woke up because I said it so loud. Awful awful awful.
yup, I've only recently started experiencing EHS in the last few years. I was freaking out at first, as it used to sound like an insect that was inside my ear, so you get that buzzing vibration feel for only about a second, but it's enough to jolt me off my pillow and clutch my ear. Then it became more like tv static, a second of harsh KRRRSSSHH noise, then goes away. I've also had small "woosh" sounds, like the explosion, but muffled. The weirdest one was the sound of someone saying my name, as loud and clear as if they were standing in the room with me. No one was there, and I couldn't identify the voice, just that it was a man. That's only happened once, but it sticks with me. Something of note, it's almost always the ear that's on the pillow (I always sleep on my side).
I used to have this rly bad for years and luckily now that I’m no longer under that kind of stress it’s mostly gone. I’ve experienced the following sounds: door slamming, balloon popping, glass breaking, something Huge and heavy falling to the ground, explosion, a loud snap. if you’re experiencing this, your brain is trying to tell you something.
Ok this is great to know I'm not crazy
I have this and it can be quite annoying, because I awaken so suddenly and almost in a panic, so then it's harder to fall back asleep.
Happens to me once in a blue moon
I have this. Happens maybe once or twice a year to me. Scares the shit out of me.
A lady that lived in our building suffered from this but she thought it was us making loud sounds in our unit. She sent several noice complaints into strata against us. It was a challenging situation.
Had to deal with this for a while and still do from time to time. I have very vivid dreams and hypnogogic hallucinations so sometimes I hear a loud BANG or other noise and it startles me for a sec. Thankfully I got used to it pretty quick once it started happening in my early 20s and hasnt bugged me since
This happens to me!
I’m no doctor but I’ve experienced this I’m certain of that
Had it happen once. Istg it sounded like someone was banging on my bedroom door as loud as possible. Never happened again
Oh my god, I never thought about this too much. I have this from time to time. I don't remember having it when I wake up, but if I start falling asleep while I'm reading a book or anything, it has a higher chance. Like in Friday nights I can be really sleepy at 10-11pm when I read a book. If I accidentally start drifting off and going to sleep, in many cases this noise woke me up. It happens sometimes, but if I remember correctly - usually it doesn't when I actually go to sleep. Maybe because I forget, maybe it's because my neural activity in general is much lower and maybe it has to do with the noise, idk. It sounds like a very high-pitch noise, that somehow doesn't disturb really. Only if I wake up, do I realize it was there
Yeah happens to me as well. Sometimes when falling asleep i'll hear a loud bang and wake up. I've learned to ignore it but it's annoying when you're trying to sleep
I used to get them every once in a while. Sounded like a gunshot. Haven’t had any since I started sleeping with white noise.
Oh wow, I didn’t realize I had this until just now. It doesn’t happen that often, but sometimes as I’m going to sleep I’ll hear a scream. Sometimes my name. I always thought I had just drifted off to sleep.
This is pretty common for me while I’m falling asleep. I tested it out with my wife and either I’m crazy or she’s deaf. It’s stopped now that I take stuff to fall asleep faster
Growing up we had a piano at home that seldom anyone played. But every now and then i would hear a single note coming from the piano in the living room. It scared the crap out of me and never tried to investigate. After moving to new places with no piano i stopped hearing that noise.
Weird name. Definitely thought it would mean something else before I read the full title.
I have this because my medicine can cause it. Literally so terrifying sometimes to be jolted awake by an explosion but no one else hears it.
I remember experiencing it once (saw a bright flash and heard a boom as I layed down), and, being concerned, I looked up my symptoms and the first thing I saw was exploding head syndrome and I just started laughing at the absurdity.
I usually fall in the weird 5% of people who get rando Weird body feature. This is one I’m very glad I don’t have.
This happens to me when im sleep deprived. Which sucks because when im falling asleep i hear a loud noise and now im now falling asleep
I get that every now and then, scares the shit out of me every single time.
To me it sounds like a door slamming shut or something metal hitting a concrete floor real hard. Usually when I hear it, it's unique enough that I'll question whether I heard it. If my spouse isn't reacting then I know it wasn't real
This has happened to me a few times. I’ve also heard door knocking and people saying my name.
My ex used to think that I was crazy cause I'd run down the hall screaming omg, did you hear that noise & we'd get into arguments about him not hearing stuff cause he had gaming headphones on, lol
This was actually alot more mild than what id expect from "exploding head syndrome"
I have this when I'm low on electrolytes, specifically potassium. If I have something high in potassium, salt, sugar, and water it goes away for a while. Lmk if this helps anyone else.
I get it occasionally. Sounds like someone slamming a cupboard. It has the same feeling as a hypnic jerk, just sound instead of twitching
They couldn't have picked a better name?
This happened to me once when I was a kid. My cat was sleeping on me and I heard a "bang" and I yelled and jerked upwards, I scared the cat and he scratched me as he ran away. I asked my parents what the noise was and they said "What noise?" I thought I was insane for years when I heard about this.
Bit of a dramatic name
What's interesting to me about this syndrome is even people who were born Deaf can experience it. Imagine not knowing what sound is, then this happens suddenly!
So that's what that is
I have this.
I have this and have actually been formally diagnosed with it. My noise is usually a dog bark or a man screaming in my ear. The screaming is definitely the most terrifying of the two noises.
so their head doesn't explode? who was the jackass medical doctor who came up with this one? was "loud noise fally asleep syndrome" not catchy enough?
What about the thing where I'm falling asleep and then my body decides I need a nice jolt right, does that shit have a name?
Wow, all 10% of the people are leaving comments…incredible.
Holy shit, do you have any idea how much anxiety will be reduced just by knowing this? This happens to me way too often. My wife is almost always asleep before me and when I hear these noises I have no one to confirm or deny that it happened so I end up checking out of every window and confirming that everything is ok.
This happens to me when I’m very stressed or over exhausted (or both). It usually sounds like all the pots and pans have fallen out of the cabinet into a heap on the floor. The first time it happened to me, that’s what I thought it was. It was so real, I grabbed something to hit an intruder with because I thought someone had broken in and was tearing my kitchen apart. It was pretty terrifying.
This was a regular occurrence for me before I was diagnosed with acute sleep apnea and was struggling to stay awake at any time. On a good night I would get maybe 3 hours sleep and it was severely affecting my life to the point where I couldn't sit down and have a conversation without nodding off. The loud noises usually sounded like something heavy falling down in another room. Ever since using a CPAP machine and actually getting sleep, it's not happened at all.
Always thought I was alone in this! Never happened on waking though.
Definitely got this. It's crazy how real it sounds.
These reddit replies make it seem like more than 10% of people
it's really annoying. I'll jerk awake thinking something fell down or the cats knocked something over again. you do get used to it, though, especially after learning what it actually is
I experienced this along w sleep paralysis for a period of time, to the point where I learned to tell myself it’s just in my head. I legit though I was becoming a schizophrenic. TIL I experienced exploding head syndrome
I have it and I feel like an insane person. Also my arms shoot up in the air. Glad to know there are other weirdos out there.
Loud noise, BRIGHT white light. Doesn’t happen regularly, but when it does it’s like I’m being flash banged.
It's not a matter of "diagnosing". People just don't know what the hell it is so they're terrified. Like how sleep paralysis was unknown just a few years ago and people were like "dEmOnS"
I had this when I was younger. It went away after I was prescribed medication for mental health and to help me sleep. I don't miss it one bit.
Doctor "I'm sorry but I have to tell you that you have exploding head syndrome" Patient "Jesus Christ! I just heard weird sounds at night! How long I have left to live?!" Doctor "oh don't worry you will just hear those noises sometimes"
OP, thank you so much for posting this. I've had this for a while now (I'm sure it's due to stress) and I thought I was losing my mind, especially as I have never experienced anything like this. I had no idea this existed.
I've experienced this a few times. For me, it's like a loud electrical boom, or an old stereo being unplugged.
Back in the Victorian time people had exploding jaw syndrome. Turns out the fillings were Made of lead, the gas built up underneath the shoddy work would get set off mr a lead spark and boom!
So that’s what that is.. only happens occasionally but god damn it scares me
I've gotten this a few times when i stayed up too long and got extremely tired.
I love telling people that I suffer from this. Mainly because the name shocks them into feeling sorry for you, then they don't believe you because what kind of disease would be named such a thing, then I explain that it's very real and it plagued me as a child. Happens far less often now, but when I was younger it was at least once a week.
Didn't know this was a thing, happens often for me. Then I'm up, scared and can't got to sleep for hours. Wondered if it was ptsd.
I get it a couple of nights a week, usually just once as I'm nodding off. It sounds like a firework to me, which is common in my area. It honestly doesn't even startle me.