- Being affected by visual hallucinations
Auditory hallucinations (i.e., hearing things that aren’t actually there as a result of sleep paralysis) aren’t the only type of hallucinations you may experience, nor are the spontaneous apparition of colors when your eyes are closed the only things you may see.
Sometimes sleep paralysis is accompanied by extremely vivid visual hallucinations: seeing things that aren’t there. They can range from simple shadows to complete human figures that appear as real as if someone were standing there, but they are not.
The body is transitioning into a dream state, and visual hallucinations in which the brain isn’t “certain” if it’s alert are extremely common. Do not be alarmed by your visual hallucinations if you are experiencing sleep paralysis. It is not real, and it does vanish.
Consult a physician if you experience hallucinations or see “auras” while awake: There is probably another (potentially severe, but treatable and manageable) medical cause for it.
