Exploding Head Syndrome (EHS)

Have you ever been awakened by sensation of a sudden loud noise in your head?

Exploding Head Syndrome (EHS) is a type of auditory hallucination that occurs in very light sleep (usually when waking or falling asleep) that sounds (internally) like a gunshot or like a person's head has exploded. This causes no actual damage or pain but can be a very surprising or frightful way to wake up. Sometimes body twitches or visual disruptions can occur with the noise. The actual cause in unknown and exploding head syndrome does not affect everyone. Some theorized causes are temporal lobe disturbances, shifts within the middle ear, or effects of stress and anxiety.