This application is not fully accessible to users whose browsers do not support or have Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) disabled. For a more optimal experience viewing this application, please enable CSS in your browser and refresh the page.
Imagine that you're relaxed and drifting off to sleep when suddenly an arm or leg twitches and you have the sensation of falling out of bed. If this has happened to you, you've experienced what sleep specialists call a hypnic jerk or sleep start. Sleep starts happen in normal, healthy people and don't ordinarily require any medical treatment. However, certain medical conditions can make you jump in your sleep and should be evaluated by your physician.
The first thing that you need to know is that you are not crazy when you are hallucinating spiders upon waking. Just because you are hallucinating and seeing something that is not really there does not make you mentally unstable. In fact, what you are experiencing is likely just something called â Hypnagogic Hallucinations. This conditions is just as scary as seeing those spiders that arenât really there. With hypnagogic hallucinations you experience a type of sleep paralysis where you think that you are awake and seeing things (like spiders or an old hag) but your body cannot move no matter how hard you try.