For many, sleep represents peace and relaxation after a long day. Although you may not know it, your body goes through a series of changes when you are unconscious. From undoing the bad from the day before, to preparing for the next, the human body is constantly repairing itself.
The truth is that very few people know what happens while you are sleeping, what your body suffers and once you know it you will be surprised.
Have you ever had strange and unpleasant sensations while you were sleeping? These are some sleep disorders and other mysterious things that happen while sleeping.
1. Falling out of bed
How it feels: Sometimes we feel like we fell from a height in bed, jerking around and waking up. Sometimes, prior to this, we dream that we are flying and we stumble and fall: it is a quite unpleasant sensation.
Why it happens: Sleep seems like death: breathing and heart rate slow down, muscles become very weak. The brain “gets scared”, believes that it may be death and checks if the person is alive by sending impulses to the muscles.
2. Dream within the dream
How it feels: The person dreams something, then wakes up but strange things keep happening. Turns out he just dreamed that he had woken up. We saw this theme in the movie “The Origin”. After this it turned out that many people have felt something similar.
Why it happens: Esoterics believe that if you saw this dream, it speaks of your predisposition to spiritual practices. But official science cannot explain why it happens.
3. Astral experiences
How it feels: It is a neuropsychological phenomenon, in which the person, remaining between sleep and wakefulness, sees himself from the side. The esotericists take it for proof of the existence of the soul.
Why it happens: It is a difficult phenomenon to study. At the moment, scientists know that the “out-of-body” illusion actually exists, but they don’t know how it works or why it happens. They also do not understand how to fight with this. Some people seek to enter this state on purpose, to broaden their understanding of the world.
4. Sleep paralysis
How it feels: The person wakes up at night but cannot move. This is accompanied by terrifying hallucinations and the feeling that someone is watching you. In ancient times, this phenomenon was explained by demonic forces.
Why it happens: Usually, when we fall asleep, the brain paralyzes us so that we don’t do anything while we sleep. During sleep paralysis, our muscles “shut down” when the sleeper is still asleep or already awake.
Approximately 7% of the world’s population has experienced this phenomenon even once in their life. They say this happens more when you sleep on your back.
5. Hypnotic hallucinations
How it feels: When the person is between sleep and wakefulness, being conscious, they see some images in front of their eyes that they cannot control. Many times they are fearsome faces or fantastic creatures.
Why it happens: It is one of the few forms of hallucinations that psychologically healthy people have. It usually happens to children, this may be the reason why they do not want to sleep. Often these hallucinations happen due to stress or simply people with good imaginations. It can happen if you fall asleep drunk.
6. Recurring dreams
How you feel: Maybe we’ve all had weird dreams that play the same plot.
Why it happens: Psychologists believe that thanks to these dreams, the brain tries to draw our attention to events that we overlook. These plots will return until the situation is resolved.
7. Talking in your sleep
How it feels: Usually, the person suffering from somnoloquia (talking in their sleep) does not even realize it. This phenomenon is completely harmless on the psychological plane. The only drawback is that he might say something he shouldn’t.
Why it happens: This disorder is usually seen in men and boys. The reason is stress again. The person’s subconscious tries to fight what is really bothering him.
8. Sleepwalking
What it feels like: It’s the complete opposite of sleep paralysis: your consciousness is asleep, but your muscles don’t freeze. People can walk, clean or even leave the house asleep, but in many cases it is very dangerous. In the morning people no longer remember anything.
Why it happens: Sleepwalking is found in almost 4.6-10.3% of the population, at the same time, those who suffer the most are children. The cause of this phenomenon still remains unknown, as well as how to treat it.
9. The exploding head syndrome
How it feels: The person wakes up as if after an explosion or a loud noise. Sometimes he thinks the sound was such that it left him a little dazed. It may be accompanied by ringing in the ears or flashes in front of the eyes. The phenomenon is not dangerous, but it causes a lot of fear. Some think it is a stroke.
Why it happens: For some reason, neurons in the brain that are responsible for processing sound are activated. Sometimes the syndrome manifests itself together with insomnia or change of time zones on long flights.
10. Lighting during sleep
How it feels: Sometimes we spend days trying to solve a problem and we spend thinking about it all the time. Suddenly the brain only gives us the answer: the important thing is to remember it.
*An example of this is Dmitri Mendeleev, who suffered creating his periodic table and one day he saw it in a dream. Another similar story happened to the chemist Kekulé: he dreamed of the formula for benzene.
Why it happens: Sometimes our subconscious already knows the answer, even though our conscious doesn’t yet. That is why he wants to communicate it to us in dreams. What can we say, sometimes the dream gives us these unexpected surprises.
11. Sleep Apnea
How it feels: Sleep apnea is the stopping of breathing during sleep. At the same time, the person wakes up. The quality of sleep is reduced, the brain feels the lack of oxygen and it becomes difficult to sleep well. During these attacks, blood pressure rises and falls, which can cause heart problems.
Why it happens: During sleep, the throat muscles relax, and in some people this blocks the airway. In the risk zone are overweight people, smokers, the elderly. By the way, during apnea it helps to play the Australian instrument digestidoo.
Important: It should be clarified that The Bioguide does not give medical advice or prescribe the use of techniques as a form of treatment for physical or mental problems without the advice of a doctor, either directly or indirectly. In the case of applying any information on this site for this purpose, La Bioguía does not assume responsibility for these acts. The site is intended only to provide information of a general nature to aid in the pursuit of personal growth and development.