Most people probably have encountered some strange experiences in their sleep. From your snoring to scary moments of you being unable to move. But rest assured, these are actually normal. Here are 10 mysterious things that usually happen to you when you are sleeping.
1. Sleep paralysis
One night, you are sleeping peacefully in your bed. Suddenly, you woke up and found that you are unable to move? You feel like you are stuck inside your own body and can only move your eyes. Then, scary shadows started to freak you out. Then, you are experiencing what is called sleep paralysis.
According to experts, normally, our body is paralyzed when sleeping to prevent moving our sleepwalking. Basically, our muscles are off when sleeping. But when experiencing sleep paralysis, our brain is awake and our muscles are turned off.
For most people, sleep paralysis only lasts for a few seconds. Some people, however, can have a long experience and it can be pretty scary.
2. Hypnagogic hallucinations
When sleeping, some people experience weird hallucinations at the corner of their eye. This is called hypnagogic hallucination. It is usually experienced when a person is on the verge of sleeping, but their brain is still awake, causing them to see pictures before his eyes. People often see scary faces and bizarre creatures. Children have them more which could be the reason they don’t want to sleep alone.
In some circumstances, these types of hallucinations may be due to stress or a good imagination. These can also happen if a person goes to bed drunk.
3. Hypnagogic Jerk or Hypnic Jerk
Have you ever experience dreaming of falling down and waking up, kicking your bed? A hypnagogic jerk is a sudden and strong involuntary twitch of muscle that usually occurs when you’re about to fall asleep. The same sensation is termed a hypnic jerk when it happens when awakening.
In many cases, it only affects a part of the body, like an arm or leg. But in some cases, a vocalization or sharp cry may also occur. Sleeping is like dying — the heartbeat and breathing slow down, muscle tone is reduced. Thus the brain sends a signal to the body to check whether the person is alive, sending impulses to the muscles.
Hypnagogic jerks usually occur in the first stage and second stage of sleep which is the lightest stage of sleep. This may happen occasionally later in the night, but these are less likely to be remembered.
4. Lucid Dreaming
A few people have experienced what it calls to be Lucid Dreaming. A lucid dream is a dream in which the person is aware that they are in a dream. Usually, the dreamer may gain some switch over the dream, being able to choose with the characters, narrative, and environment.
5. Out of Body Experience (OBE)
People have reported that when sleeping, they experience an out-of-body experience where their spirits can get out of their bodies. This is a neuropsychological occurrence in which a person, half-asleep and half-awake, sees himself from a place outside his body. OBE is a very difficult subject to study.
Experts do not have a clear explanation of how to why OBE happens. It is also unclear how a person should deal with this. Nevertheless, some people know how to enter this state intentionally. They do so to expand the boundaries of their cognitive capabilities.
6. Dream within a dream
Imagine waking up from a dream, turning off your alarm, and getting out of bed. You started your day, showered, and ate. But as you were about to leave your house, an alarm started blasting, waking you up, realizing you are still in your bed, and late for work.
This phenomenon of having a dream within a dream actually happens to a lot of people and is completely normal. According to Dream Studies, “false awakening” usually happens when our brain uses our dreams to give us the illusion of doing our daily life.
7. Sleep talking
Have you experienced waking up from your roommate talking in their sleep? Sleep-talking is also a common sleep occurrence and is experienced by two out of three adults. Usually, when a person talks in their sleep, they have no idea about it. This condition is not dangerous psychologically. Research suggests that sleep talking doesn’t reflect actual memories or emotions — so don’t take it personally if you hear something you do not like from the person.
8. Sleepwalking
Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to get water. Suddenly, a shadow appeared from the corner of your eyes. Scared, you looked at it and realized that it’s your roommate sleepwalking, again. Sleepwalking is the complete opposite of sleep paralysis. In this occurrence, the consciousness is asleep but the muscle paralysis does not take place. This can let people walk, clean, eat, or even leave the house, which is unsafe.
In addition, people experiencing sleepwalking do not usually remember anything. Sleepwalking occurs in about 4.6-10.3% of the population, with children being affected more often. The cause of sleepwalking is still unknown.
9. Sleep apnea
After a long day at work, we usually find ourselves wanting a very relaxing rest. For some, however, having a snoring partner with us is frustrating. Sleep apnea is an abrupt halt of breathing when sleeping. Arterial pressure also fluctuates during an occurrence, which may result in heart difficulties. It is due to the pharynx muscles relaxing, causing blockage of the airways. Obesity, smoking, and old age can increase the risk of a person experiencing Sleep Apnea.
10. Exploding head syndrome
The person wakes up from a sensation of a loud explosion or a clap. Sometimes the sound seems deafening. It can be accompanied by an increasing buzz or a flash. The phenomenon is not dangerous, but it frightens people. Some think they have had a stroke.
This happens when, for some reason, there is a surge of neural activity in the areas of the brain responsible for processing sound (source). Sometimes the syndrome is coupled with insomnia or jet lag.
