There is a whole range of phenomena that occur during sleep that remain an enigma for science. We can say that sleep itself is something that we still do not fully understand. Researchers still cannot agree on the real role it plays in our lives.
Several actions and processes take place while we sleep. The exact reason for these phenomena occurring during sleep is unknown. Although there are hypotheses on the subject, there are still no definitive answers.
The truth is that we end up experiencing situations that seem more or less absurd to us while we are asleep. Most of them are disturbing and disconcerting to us, even if they have no consequences. What are these strange phenomena that occur during sleep? Here are five of them.
“ You fear imagination. And dreams even more. You fear the responsibility that may come from them. But you cannot help sleeping. And if you sleep, you dream. When you are awake, you can restrain your imagination, more or less. But dreams cannot be controlled .”
-Haruki Murakami-
1. Hypnotic hallucinations
Hypnotic or hypnagogic hallucinations are one of those strange phenomena that occur during sleep. They usually occur shortly before we fall asleep. Sometimes they also occur in the transition between sleep and waking.
They are visual, auditory, or tactile hallucinations. They occur in completely mentally healthy people. Sometimes they have to do with pleasant images or perceptions and sometimes not. They are more frequent in children and are generally due to stress, alcohol consumption, or are the result of an imaginative mind.
2. Sleep talking, one of the phenomena that occur during sleep
Talking in your sleep is technically known as a somniloquy. It is a very common phenomenon among children. It is estimated that up to 5% of adults talk in their sleep. Neither in children nor in adults does it represent a difficulty or deficiency?
Usually, what the sleeping person says does not make sense. Sometimes they are reminiscences of the day or content related to the dream that is being had. The cause for this has not been established. Only in some cases is it related to stress.
3. Exploding head syndrome
Another of those enigmatic phenomena that occur during sleep is the one that has been dubbed “exploding head syndrome”. It is a rare parasomnia whose symptoms were identified by the American doctor Silas Weir in 1876, but it was not until 1989 when the description of this syndrome was published by Dr. JM Pearce in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry.
Exploding head syndrome is when a person experiences a bang or explosion very vividly while they are asleep. This wakes them up.
Sometimes the person also sees sparks or lights and sometimes feels like they have difficulty breathing. This is a terrifying experience that significantly increases the heart rate.
The reasons for this phenomenon are unknown. Some people associate it with stress or extreme fatigue. However, this has not been scientifically proven. What is known is that the syndrome is harmless to health.
4. Recurring dreams
Recurrent dreams are those in which the dream content is repeated over and over again. That is to say, the same thing is dreamt or the circumstances are the same. Sometimes there is also continuity or development of situations that have already been dreamt of before.
Psychologists agree that these types of dreams are a kind of call from the unconscious to pay attention to something that has not been resolved or addressed. The reiteration of the content is like an inner voice trying to be heard so that we turn our eyes to some aspect of our lives.
5. “Unfoldings”
They are called “double visions” and also “astral experiences.” Although it is a neuropsychological phenomenon, popular beliefs, and some charlatans have turned it into a kind of experience from beyond. In reality, it has nothing to do with the world of the paranormal, but with the functioning of the brain.
During these episodes, the person feels like he or she is floating outside his or her body. Sometimes, the body itself can be seen from the outside. They occur not only during sleep, but also under anesthesia, in the moments before death, or after excessive physical effort.
This happens when two sensations conflict with each other. The brain becomes confused and generates the experience of feeling outside of one’s own body. It is similar to what happens in the phenomenon of “phantom limbs”, that is, sensations in limbs that have been amputated.
All of these phenomena that occur during sleep continue to raise questions and are the subject of study. We are still far from fully deciphering the logic and mechanisms by which the human brain operates. In addition, it remains fascinating to advance in the questions and answers to its enigmas.