The one part of the day we all love the most is the time when we get to jump into our beds at the end of the day to finally sleep. Seriously, a good night’s sleep after a long, tiring day is something most of us crave more than anything else. But, do you know that for some people, sleeping can actually be a terrifying thing because they experience some weird things while they are asleep. And we are not talking about insomnia here.
There are actually somebody movements and sensations that occur when we are either trying to sleep or when we are in deep sleep, or when we are just about to wake up. In whichever state we may be, these sleep disorders can lead to stress and most of them can actually freak us out to a level that we get scared to even fall asleep.
One thing we really want to clear out at this stage is that we do not want to scare you out, it is just some information we thought the world needs to know about, so that if at all these things happen to you or your loved ones, you will be in a position to understand that these things do happen and you can find solutions also. So, let us now take a look at some of these things which can happen to us when we are sleeping:
As scary as it sounds, this sleep disorder which is known as sleep apnea can actually lead to dangerous conditions because when you stop breathing while sleeping, oxygen supply to the heart and brain may get disrupted. The disorder may manifest itself in the form of either shallow breaths or pauses of a few seconds or even minutes.
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Sleep paralysis is a condition which really scares the hell out of people at night. I can say that because it has happened to me a few times, and yes I was really petrified, to say the least! What happens here is that although we are conscious, we are simply not able to move our body. Sleep paralysis occurs between the stages of wakefulness and sleep and during this transition, we are unable to move or even speak for a few seconds or minutes. Some people can also feel a sense of choking or a pressure on their chest.
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There are times when we feel like our dreams should become a reality, but we would not want to actually act out on our dreams. This sleep disorder is known as Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder and here, the person may act on some of his unpleasant dreams during his REM sleep. There are physical acts with proper and often violent leg and arm movements accompanied by vocal sounds.
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There are times when we feel like our dreams should become a reality, but we would not want to actually act out on our dreams. This sleep disorder is known as Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder and here, the person tends to physically act out vivid and unpleasant dreams with proper vocal sounds and violent arm and leg movements during REM sleep.
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We may feel that a person looks funny when he sleepwalks, but actually, this disorder can lead to dangerous situations because when one sleepwalks, they can fall from stairs or trip over things and even do things like switching on the gas, or they may even go inside the car. While sleepwalking, we get out of the sleep just enough for our body to move, but not our brain to function properly. This is also the reason why many people can’t remember a thing about the time when they sleepwalk.
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According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, about 5 percent of adults talk when they are sleeping. Most of these talking sessions last for about 30 seconds on an average and they occur within the first hour or two of the sleeping cycle. At this stage, we are getting into deep sleep, but there is still enough muscle tone which can lead to sounds and even movements.
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The disorder, known as Exploding Head Syndrome, makes us feel exactly like the name suggests. Here, the person wakes up suddenly, feeling like they have heard a big explosion, or a really loud noise and they feel that their head may explode. This sleep disorder is a type of hypnagogic jerk (the one we discussed earlier, where we feel as if we are falling), as the body is going towards deep sleep, but some senses are still on.
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Now, this is not true for all the senses because the sense of touch and hearing are not entirely turned off as we are awakened by the sound of an alarm, or when someone touches us. But according to a research done at Brown University, the sense of smell doesn’t really work when we are sleeping. You may have believed that in case of an emergency of a gas leak, or a fire, your sense of smell may wake you up, but that is not the case.
As stated earlier, our motive was not to scare you; but to make you aware of the different disorders which make you do and experience weird, even terrifying things when you are asleep. If you think any of these situations are happening with you and are going out of hand, then we suggest you go to the doctor. After all, if there is a problem, there ought to be a solution.
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