1.
The Phenomenon: The Flying Dream You rest your head and drift off into a fantastical
dreamscape where anything is possible, and suddenly you’re soaring over telephone poles
and treetops.
You’re not in a plane or hovercraft.
Your arms have just suddenly become wings.
Many who have experienced the “flying dream” have enjoyed the adventure, so much so that
they try to forcibly make it happen again.
Why It Happens: To alleviate pressure.
In a Huffington Post article on the topic, psychotherapist Jeffrey Sumber explained that
the flying dream is often a means of escape from your everyday routine.
The ground represents the harsh side of reality.
It symbolizes obstacles and expectations.
In flight, the dreamer finds freedom by floating over the day-to-day pressures and taking a
surreal journey through the clouds.
Fun Facts About The Flying Dream: The flying dream is one of the most common
strange sleep occurrences.
It has been extensively studied, and, while the most widely held view maintains the idea
that it stems from real-life situations that cause the sleeper to experience a desire for
a feeling of freedom, scientists in the ‘50s seemed to think it was related to erections.
This could be due to the fact that the flying dream is more frequently experienced by men
than women.
Even today, there are some dream analysts who attribute physical circumstances such
as the balance control of the inner ear to dreams of flying sans airplane.
People who regularly experience this elated state of sleep often speak of different techniques
that they use in order to fly.
Some flying dreamers like to stay low to the ground, while others claim they have to jump
a few times to achieve flight, kind of like Super Mario in his cape.
Lucid dreamers make their flying plans in advance, which is also pretty cool.
It turns out that flying is the most popular activity among lucid dreamers.
2.
The Phenomenon: Somniloquy, AKA Talking In Your Sleep
Do you spend your nights babbling ridiculous stories that you don’t recall in the morning?
Has a loved one ever complained about you talking their ear off in your sleep, or worse,
giving up treasured secrets?
If so, you suffer from somniloquy, which is medical jargon for talking in your sleep.
Why It Happens: There are several suspected underlying causes
for this bizarre – and sometimes hilarious – condition.
It is most likely to happen during a shift in REM sleep when the sleeper is momentarily
awakened by something while still in the midst of a dream.
For this reason, sleep monologues uttered aloud are often mirrors of things that are
happening in the dream, making for some pretty nonsensical pillow talk.
So, are the things a person utters while sleeping true?
Nobody really knows for sure, since we dream things that didn't really happen all the time.
What you are getting a glimpse of is the sleeper’s wacky subconscious at work.
3.
The Phenomenon: Feeling Like You’re Falling And Waking Up On The Floor
When your head hits the pillow, you’re not exactly expecting it to hit the floor later
that night, but that’s exactly what happens when the falling dream is accompanied by the
hypnic jerk.
The end result is that you dream of falling, and you wake up (ouch) right on your bedroom
floor.
Why It Happens: This unique experience is the result of not
one – but two – strange sleep episodes, the first of which is the notorious falling
dream.
According to expert opinion, the falling dream is all about a lack of control in your waking
life.
Something has you on edge, so in your dream, you fall off that edge, with the goal that
you’ll resolve this issue.
The second element is, of course, waking up on the floor, an occurrence that happens when
your sleep personality and your awake personality engage in a duel creating involuntary muscle
spasms and movements.
The technical term for this is the hypnic jerk, and, when it happens, you are literally
being scared back out into a state of alertness.
Psychologist Frederick Coolidge goes so far as to link the hypnic jerk reaction to evolution,
claiming it could be your body’s way of reacting to the possibility that you’re
falling out of a tree.
Since many of our dreams are now believed to have been passed down by our ancestors
through DNA, it makes sense that sleep patterns could have also been passed down.
4.
The Phenomenon: Night Hag Syndrome, AKA Sleep Paralysis
Did you ever lie down in your bed and find yourself unable to move?
Was it almost as if someone, or something, was sitting on your chest?
Sleep paralysis, as this condition is called, has several medical explanations, but many
believe it could be paranormal.
Why It Happens: Most people cannot move or speak while in
a state of REM sleep; however, they are unaware of this because they’re sleeping.
Scientists have explained that sleep paralysis occurs when your body is made aware of REM
sleep before you wake up due to a change in sleep schedule or medication.
Of course, there are also those who believe that Lillith, the Night Hag, the evil jinn
of night, is sitting on your chest or maybe even trying to coerce you into sexual positions.
5.
The Phenomenon: Having A Nightmare Before You Fall Asleep
You’re on the edge of dreamworld when suddenly you see the nightmare coming, a spooky premonition.
You’re not even fully asleep yet, and you’re already dreaming.
This is known by the psychological community as hypnagogia, and it opens up all sorts of
really out there occurrences, ranging from hallucination to lucid dreaming to out-of-body
experiences.
Why It Happens: It happens while entering the hypnagogic state,
that place where reality melts away, and all that’s left is dreaming.
If you happen to feel a nightmarish sensation overcome you during this phase, you’re probably
just having a rough transition.
While extreme cases of hypnagogia have been linked to narcolepsy, being vividly aware
of the sights and sounds of your subconscious before REM hits is usually nothing to worry
about.
It could even make you more perceptive.
6.
The Phenomenon: Exploding Head Syndrome Do you ever wake up to a gunshot or fall asleep
to the sound of a gong?
If so, you might just suffer from exploding head syndrome, a sleep disorder that is said
to affect at least 10% of the population.
Women – especially those over 50 – are at the greatest risk of suffering from this
situation.
Why It Happens: Scientific speculations range from stress
to calcium signaling impairment and minor temporal lobe seizures as possible explanations
for this phenomenon.
Nobody really knows for sure, but if shots in the night are interrupting your regularly
scheduled sleep program, treatments are available that might just help.
Some possible treatment options include the consumption of calcium channel blockers and/or
antidepressants along with counseling.
7.
The Phenomenon: Peeing In A Dream River That Is Actually Your Bed
So, there you are, frolicking through a wild dreamscape when you get the urge to take a
leak.
Perfect.
There just so happens to be a toilet, river, port-a-potty, or some relief equivalent right
on the dream base.
You relieve your bladder, and you wake up to learn that you wet the bed!
Why It Happens: Bed wetting in adults can be the sign of a
more serious condition or even the bad effect of a medication if it happens on a regular
basis.
If, on the other hand, it only happens once or twice, no worries.
You are just among the masses of people who experience a phenomenon known as the false
awakening.
This is the equivalent to the dream where you dream you woke up only to find out you’re
still dreaming.
The difference is, there’s pee involved in this one.
During a false awakening, the dreamer simply has two simultaneous needs – sleep and something
else (in this case, urination).
Rather than deprive you of sleep in order to fulfill another basic need, your subconscious
simply offers you the alternative of fulfilling that need while dreaming.
Variations include dreaming that you wake up and eat breakfast or dreaming that you
wake up and escape a nightmare you’re having.
8.
The Phenomenon: Recurring Dreams So you’re chasing space invaders with giant
blue basketballs when things around you start to look familiar.
Oh, no.
It’s that dream again!
Recurring dreams are common.
In fact, Psychology Today projects that between 60% and 75% of adults have them.
Why It Happens: Unresolved issues keep coming back to the
surface.
Recurring dreams, especially those of the negative variety, might just be your brain’s
way of waking you up to an impending problem and motivating you to get your butt in gear.
One study even showed that students who suffered recurring dreams that involved the failing
of exams actually got better grades.
The moral here is that practice makes perfect, even in dreamland.
9.
The Phenomenon: Free-Running Syndrome Does your sleep cycle have you feeling cut
off from the rest of the world?
Are you drowsy during the day and a complete insomniac at night?
If that sounds like you, it’s possible that free-running circadian sleep disorder’s
got you by the toes.
Why It Happens: Your circadian clock is off.
People with this oddball syndrome can’t seem to set a subliminal sleep timer that
coincides with the rest of society.
Possibly due to the involvement of daylight in internal clocks, free-running syndrome
occurs at a disproportionately high rate in the blind population.
Fortunately, it can be assessed and treated with proper medical care.
10.
The Phenomenon: Kicking In Your Sleep Did you ever fall into a deep, intense sleep,
only to kick yourself awake?
This wacky sleep occurrence is known as REM sleep behavior disorder, and it might be saying
something serious about your health.
Why It Happens: It’s usually caused by exposure to some
sort of toxin, such as pesticides or cigarettes.
An online study conducted by the American Academy of Neurology found that cigarette
smokers, people who suffered head injuries, and farmers who regularly sprayed pesticides
were way more likely to kick or punch in their sleep.
In addition: "[it can] also be a precursor to neurodegenerative
diseases such as Parkinson's disease and a type of dementia.
Studies have shown that more than 50 percent of people with REM sleep behavior disorder
go on to develop a neurodegenerative disorder years or even decades later."
Ordinarily, when people enter a state of REM sleep, their muscles loosen to the point of
being limp.
Sleepers whose muscles do not loosen are kicking and punching as a way of acting out their
dreams physically rather than just subconsciously.
11.
The Phenomenon: Getting Slapped Or Punched Awake
Sure, there are plenty of stories about night terrors and sleep walkers who do all sorts
of things to other people.
Some of them have even committed murder without waking up.
While all of this is rather strange, little attention is being paid to people who claim
that just the opposite is happening to them.
Are you being slapped around and punched while you’re sleeping?
Do you wake up remembering the horrifying experience and maybe even having some Freddy
Kreuger style marks to match the story?
Freakishly, you’re not alone.
Several forums are dedicated to people who claim they are getting abused in their sleep.
Why It Happens: Nobody knows.
Cue Twilight Zone music...
12.
The Phenomenon: Sleepwalking In the world of dreams, there exist two curiously
opposite occurrences.
There are sleepers who are paralyzed and know it, and then there are those sleepers who
are walking and entirely unaware.
Why It Happens: This is often caused by being overly tired,
and the body decides to fill simultaneous, competing needs (like needing sleep and food
at the same time).
Sleepwalking occurs in up to 15% of the population and is almost always harmless.
There have been rare, controversial cases where sleepwalkers are alleged to have become
violent, but most sleepwalkers are pretty content with just eating a bowl of cereal
and returning back to bed.