Everyone would like to sleep peacefully at night to regain their strength. Nevertheless, it is difficult to find a person who would not have experienced unusual or unpleasant sensations in a dream. We decided to tell you about similar experiences, because science still cannot find an explanation for them.
Sleep paralysis
What do you feel?
You wake up in the middle of the night, but you cannot move. But that is not all. Added to this state of immobility are frightening hallucinations and the feeling that someone is in the room. In ancient times, this condition was associated with the presence of evil spirits.
What's happening?
Usually, when a person falls asleep, his body becomes motionless. This is necessary for his own safety. However, with the so-called sleep paralysis, a person's muscles remain paralyzed, and his brain begins to wake up. About 7% of people have had a similar experience at least once in their life. According to statistics, you are more likely to experience paralysis if you sleep on your back.
Promotional video:
Hypnagogic hallucinations
What do you feel?
When a person starts to fall asleep, but his brain is still awake, he may experience strange visions, for example, contemplating terrible or fantastic creatures.
What's happening?
This is one of the few types of hallucinations that occurs in mentally healthy people. This happens to children more often, and this is one of the reasons why they refuse to go to bed. These hallucinations can be triggered by stress or just a good imagination, as well as the state of intoxication when you go to bed.
Conversations in a dream
What do you feel?
Usually a person who suffers from somniloquia (a fancy term for talking in a dream) has no idea of their condition. It is absolutely not dangerous from a psychological point of view, although, on the other hand, a person with such a problem can tell all his secrets.
What's happening?
Most often, men and children talk in a dream, and the reason for this is stress. The psyche is trying to cope with what the person does not agree with.
Dream in dream
What do you feel?
You dream, then wake up, but strange things still happen to you. It turns out that you just dreamed that you woke up. This issue was raised in Inception, after the success of which many people reported this phenomenon.
What's happening?
Esotericists believe that if a person had such a dream, this indicates his predisposition to spiritual practices. However, scientists cannot explain why this happens.
Sleepwalking
What do you feel?
This is the opposite of sleep paralysis: your mind is asleep, but the muscles continue to work. In their sleep, many people start walking, cleaning the house or even going outside, although this is very dangerous. In the morning, they don't remember anything.
What's happening?
About 4.6-10.3% of people experience somnambulism, and children most often suffer from it. The cause of this condition is still unknown, as are the methods of treatment.
Exploding head syndrome
What do you feel?
A person wakes up due to the fact that it seems to him that he heard a loud explosion or bang, and sometimes this sound seems deafening. In addition, this may be accompanied by an increase in noise or explosions. The phenomenon itself is not dangerous, but it can scare you. Some people even think they have had a stroke.
What's happening?
This is due to an unexplained spike in neural activity in the areas of the brain responsible for processing sound signals. Sometimes the syndrome is combined with insomnia or delayed reaction.
Sleep apnea
What do you feel?
Apnea is the sudden stop of breathing during sleep, as a result of which a person wakes up. Because of this state, the quality of sleep decreases, oxygen starvation of the brain occurs, it becomes too difficult for a person to sleep. During an attack, blood pressure begins to fluctuate and this causes heart problems.
What's happening?
During sleep, the muscles in your pharynx relax and sometimes this can lead to a blockage in your airways. The risk of experiencing sleep apnea increases with obesity, smoking, or old age.
Recurring dreams
What do you feel?
Probably everyone has had strange recurring dreams during which a person sees the same plot.
What's happening?
Psychologists believe that the brain uses such dreams to try to draw your attention to things that you do not notice in everyday life. In this way, dreams will repeat themselves until the person resolves the problem that caused them.
Falling in a dream
What do you feel?
Sometimes in a dream, a person feels as if he was thrown onto the bed from a height, so he shudders and wakes up. Therefore, he may dream that he is flying or stumbling and falling. Quite an unpleasant feeling, to be sure.
What's happening?
Sleep is somewhat similar to dying - a person's heartbeat and breathing slows down, and muscle tone decreases. In some cases, the brain perceives this state as real death and sends an impulse to the muscles, checking if the person is alive.
Outside the body
What do you feel?
This is a neuropsychological phenomenon, during which a person, half asleep, sees his body as if from the outside. For mystics and occultists, this state is a confirmation of the existence of the soul.
What's happening?
From a scientific point of view, this phenomenon is very difficult to explain. Although scientists are aware of the out-of-body illusion, they do not know how it works or why it occurs. It is also unclear how to deal with this. However, some people know how to consciously enter this state, thus trying to expand the boundaries of their cognitive abilities.
Sudden enlightenment while sleeping
What do you feel?
Sometimes for a long time a person cannot find a solution to a problem, and therefore constantly thinks about it. And then, in a dream, the brain provides a clue to this problem. The most important thing is to remember this decision.
Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleev, for example, was obsessed with creating the periodic table of elements, and then saw it in a dream. A similar thing happened to the chemist Friedrich August Kekule when he dreamed of the formula for benzene.
What's happening?
This happens because very often the subconscious already knows the answer, although it has not yet reached the human consciousness. During sleep, the subconscious mind is more active and therefore can provide insight into the problem. Sleep itself is very important for a person, but sometimes it gives him even more benefits.
Anna Pismenna