Monday, February 19, 2007
this is for all you people out there who say that you could not move while waking up in the middle of the night last night and wonder why. or perhaps you think it was a ghost?
im tired of explaining over and over again to the many people who i hear getting all excited or spooked by their "supernatural encounter" so here it is. this is a summary of what i can remember. for more explanation, just google it.
when we sleep, there are certain periods of our sleep referred to as R.E.M.-Rapid Eye Movement. during this period, we have bodily activity as per normal i.e. same as when we are awake. brain activity is high, breathing and heart rates irregular. during R.E.M., we are thought to be having dreams-dreams that we can remember the clearest.
now here is the thing that led me to search on this topic. does anyone of you ever wonder why in spite of the dreams we have, no matter how realistic, we do not move? or perhaps you're intrigued by the "falling off bed" or the "kicking suddenly" feeling? well. this is due to the fact that the brain secretes hormones to prevent us from acting out our dreams. (otherwise, imagine you dreamt that you walked to your window and jumped.)
as with all other things, nothing is perfect and so is this process. therefore, some of us end up not having enough of this hormone that disables our motor movement and thus we find ourselves doing things like kicking the air or perhaps wetting the bed while dreaming that we were answering a call of nature..
vice versa, if the effects of the hormone do not wear off fast enough, we could wake up feeling paralysed. sleep paralysis, as it is called, is the partial or full paralysis of the body. most people report it to be in the chest area and even have difficulty breathing. thus it may feel like someone or something is placing an extreme amount of pressure on one's chest.
the fact that hallucinations occur together with the sleep paralysis does not help and thus a result of it all is the countless stories of ghosts or supernatural forces "attacking", some even furnished with vivid descriptions of the ghost's features. how interesting, eh?
well. as a sidenote, it would interest you that the word nightmare is derived from the effects of sleep paralysis. thought that nightmare meant "a bad dream"? well, you're wrong. the word "mare" is derived from the word "mara" from Scandinavian mythology. mara was thought to be a female wraith that caused nightmares(with the ability to cause sleep paralysis).
there we go. =)
im tired of explaining over and over again to the many people who i hear getting all excited or spooked by their "supernatural encounter" so here it is. this is a summary of what i can remember. for more explanation, just google it.
when we sleep, there are certain periods of our sleep referred to as R.E.M.-Rapid Eye Movement. during this period, we have bodily activity as per normal i.e. same as when we are awake. brain activity is high, breathing and heart rates irregular. during R.E.M., we are thought to be having dreams-dreams that we can remember the clearest.
now here is the thing that led me to search on this topic. does anyone of you ever wonder why in spite of the dreams we have, no matter how realistic, we do not move? or perhaps you're intrigued by the "falling off bed" or the "kicking suddenly" feeling? well. this is due to the fact that the brain secretes hormones to prevent us from acting out our dreams. (otherwise, imagine you dreamt that you walked to your window and jumped.)
as with all other things, nothing is perfect and so is this process. therefore, some of us end up not having enough of this hormone that disables our motor movement and thus we find ourselves doing things like kicking the air or perhaps wetting the bed while dreaming that we were answering a call of nature..
vice versa, if the effects of the hormone do not wear off fast enough, we could wake up feeling paralysed. sleep paralysis, as it is called, is the partial or full paralysis of the body. most people report it to be in the chest area and even have difficulty breathing. thus it may feel like someone or something is placing an extreme amount of pressure on one's chest.
the fact that hallucinations occur together with the sleep paralysis does not help and thus a result of it all is the countless stories of ghosts or supernatural forces "attacking", some even furnished with vivid descriptions of the ghost's features. how interesting, eh?
well. as a sidenote, it would interest you that the word nightmare is derived from the effects of sleep paralysis. thought that nightmare meant "a bad dream"? well, you're wrong. the word "mare" is derived from the word "mara" from Scandinavian mythology. mara was thought to be a female wraith that caused nightmares(with the ability to cause sleep paralysis).
there we go. =)
Labels: nightmare, rapid eye movement, sleep paralysis
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THE DARKER SIDE OF ME;
-9:05 AM-
THE DARKER SIDE OF ME;
-9:05 AM-
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
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THE DARKER SIDE OF ME;
-2:49 AM-
THE DARKER SIDE OF ME;
-2:49 AM-