Hypnic jerk
The common normal phenomenon of jerking awake, usually accompanied by a feeling of falling, just as one is drifting off to sleep. Also called a sleep jerk or sleep start.
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- Hypnolepsy
A neurological disorder marked by a sudden recurrent uncontrollable compulsion to sleep. Also known as narcolepsy. The disorder is often associated with cataplexy (a sudden loss of muscle tone and paralysis of voluntary muscles associated with a strong emotion), sleep paralysis (immobility of the body that occurs in the transition from sleep to wakefulness), what […]
- Hypnopompic hallucination
A vivid dreamlike hallucination that occurs as one is waking up. The opposite of an hypnagogic hallucination, which occurs as one is falling asleep.
- Hypnos
The Greek and Roman god of sleep. From his name is derived the term hypnosis. Hypnos was the twin of Thanatos, the personification of death. Both Hypnos and Thanatos lived in the underworld.
- Hypnosis
A part of healing from ancient times. The induction of trance states and the use of therapeutic suggestion were a central feature of the early Greek healing temples, and variations of these techniques were practiced throughout the ancient world. Modern hypnosis began in the eighteenth century with Franz Anton Mesmer, who used what he called […]
- Hypo-
Prefix meaning low, under, beneath, down, or below normal, as in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and hyposensitivity (undersensitivity). The opposite of hypo- is hyper-.