11 Mysterious Things That Occur While You Sleep
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They say you don’t appreciate a good thing until you’ve lost it – words that couldn’t be truer in the case of sleep! Ultimately, sleep is a process that’s required by the body to rest, recover, and recharge. A lack of sleep can result in several health issues, disorders, and feelings of lethargy and fatigue.
The importance of good and plentiful sleep cannot be stated enough. However, there are certain mysterious things attached to sleep as well which quite a substantial number of people go through. Some of these “mysterious” occurrences have scientific rationale associated with them, while others are more of a mystery than science even now.
So, let’s take a look at the eleven mysterious things that occur when you sleep!
1. Sleep Paralysis
Description: Having an episode of sleep paralysis can be one of the most terrifying experiences that a person can have. During sleep paralysis, the person wakes up and finds himself/herself unable to make any movements. The body just doesn’t seem to respond.
Sometimes, the paralysis isn’t where it ends and there’s an accompanying hallucination of someone or “something” else being in the room and on the bed as well. This horrifying addition to the already terrible experience makes things worse!
Cause: Even though sleep paralysis is considered as a “paranormal” experience by quite a few people, it really isn’t. Sleep paralysis is a bit of a glitch in the human body where, for a bit of time, any voluntary movement in the muscles doesn’t happen, while other senses seem to be “awake.” As per research, more than 7.5% of the population has experienced sleep paralysis at some point (1).
2. Hypnagogic Hallucinations
Description: In the deeply relaxed period between the time a person goes to sleep and actually falls asleep is when certain hallucinations known as “hypnagogic hallucinations” occur. The hallucinations can be described as the appearing of various images, shapes, faces, animals, figures, etc.
Hypnagogic hallucinations are sometimes accompanied by physical paralysis and auditory hallucinations as well (2).
Cause: In simple terms, during the hypnagogic state, the human mind breaks down its perception of the world as it interprets it, into simpler forms that aren’t marred by the usual “filters,” which is what causes such hallucinations (3). A study has reported that 37% of people experience hypnagogic hallucinations in one form or the other (4).
3. Sleep Talking
Description: The term sleep talking is largely self-descriptive. It is what happens when asleep individuals begin to talk in their unconscious state. The coherence of the utterances can vary.
Cause: Sleep talking is incredibly common and benign in nature (5). It is sometimes associated with a lack of sleep, elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and irregular sleep schedules (6).
4. A Dream Within A Dream
Description: The person who experiences this phenomenon feels like they’re dreaming, then, upon “waking up,” find out that things still haven’t gone back to normal. In such a state, they continue to experience a warped sense of reality, before actually waking up and realizing what happened to them.
Cause: Although the exact cause of having a “dream within a dream” hasn’t been scientifically explained yet, it has been a matter of curious scientific research for over a 100 years. Austrian neurologist and father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud was particularly interested in this phenomenon and even wrote about it (7). The movie Inception also draws from this phenomenon.
5. Sleepwalking
Description: Sleepwalking is somewhat an “opposite” of the previously discussed sleep paralysis.
The person experiencing this phenomenon doesn’t experience muscular paralysis, but their consciousness doesn’t register their actions. No memories are formed during sleepwalking episodes.
Cause: Occurring primarily during the first few hours of sleep when the body isn’t in the REM (rapid eye movement) state. The condition is sometimes genetic and can be triggered by consumption of alcohol, certain medicines, sedatives, mental issues or seizures (8).
6. Exploding Head Syndrome
Description: Exploding head syndrome is described as a condition where the person “hears” an incredibly loud noise or noises, causing them to wake up. The condition is also known as episodic cranial sensory shock.
Cause: Exploding head syndrome is experienced by a significant number of people, with a study putting the prevalence of it at 18% of the population (9). The exact causes of the syndrome aren’t known (10).
Despite being somewhat terrifying, the condition is usually said to be benign and no treatment or special remedial procedures are advised (11).
7. Sleep Apnea
Description: Sleep apnea is described as a feeling of breathlessness (breaks in breathing, shallow breaths, etc.) that a person experiences while they’re asleep due to their airways getting blocked, causing them to wake up.
It can be highly uncomfortable and terrifying to experience sleep apnea. It is a serious medical condition that requires treatment, as it can increase the risk of several diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, etc. (12).
Cause: One of the biggest factors associated with sleep apnea is obesity, with studies reporting up to 45% of those suffering from obstructive sleep apnea as being obese (13). Genetically small airways can also cause sleep apnea to happen more often in individuals (14).
8. Recurring Dreams
Description: The same dream occurs, again and again, follows the same plotline and usually ends each time similarly as well. It can erroneously be interpreted as a paranormal occurrence or as a “message” from beyond. However, that is not the case.
Cause: It’s not a phenomenon that has been studied extensively, but a study on pre-teenage children showed some links between recurring dreams and emotional issues in boys (15). The girls who were a part of the study did not exhibit a similar correlation.
9. Falling Onto The Bed
Description: Quite literally, “falling onto the bed” is the feeling of falling from a height on the bed that one lies upon when they’re asleep, often causing them to wake up.
The feeling of being thrown on to the bed might be preceded by “flying” or “gliding” as well.
Cause: The feeling of falling onto the bed hasn’t been scientifically researched and analyzed as yet. However, it is considered as being no more than a vivid dream.
10. Out-Of-Body Experience
Description: The out-of-body experience is when a person, in a seemingly semi-conscious state, experiences visual perception “outside” of their body, also seeing their own body from a vantage point in the process on some occasions.
Cause: Those who believe in the concept of a soul generally regard out of body experiences as proof of the same. However, the scientific explanation of the phenomenon is very different. Explaining out of body experiences as happening due to a “paroxysmal cerebral dysfunction,” one study has stated that cognitive distortion in the way the body perceives itself is what leads to such experiences (16).
11. Enlightening Experiences
Description: An individual may experience a “eureka” moment or a sudden feeling of enlightenment when they’re asleep, solving an issue or a problem that they had been facing otherwise.
As an example, Dmitri Mendeleev, the formulator of the periodic law, is said to have finalized positions of elements in the periodic table during his sleep (17).
Cause: While research behind this phenomenon is still ongoing, several noted researchers and academicians have attributed the cause behind sleep enlightenment to the brain “opening up” during sleep and seeing the “bigger picture,” allowing it to solve problems it otherwise wouldn’t have been able to (18).
Sleeping can be an introduction to a whole other world of experiences! However, with what we’ve discussed today, the “mysterious” phenomena associated with it shouldn’t be caused by fright or horror.
While some of the abovementioned things are caused due to medical issues, the rest are simply benign and can be safely ignored.
Regardless of anything else, always make sure you get good and proper sleep, as that’s the key to great health! We wish you the best.
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