Extremely Realistic burst dreams / false awakenings. Just curious

Hi Lachlan,

That's part of the sleep paralysis complex. I've had it for 50 years now, though it's definitely got better with age. The brain produces a hormone that keeps us paralysed during REM (dreaming) sleep to stop us jumping up and acting out our dreams. In some individuals, this gets produced either too soon, when we're not quite asleep, or goes on for too long and keeps us paralysed after we wake up. Most people just get the paralysis, but some of us hallucinate very badly during this phase.

I never see anything in my hallucinations, but I sometimes hear doors banging, running footsteps etc. Most of my hallucinations are the tactile sort, and extremely painful like yours. I too have been dragged around by my hair, attacked by wild animals, all sorts. And they are just hallucinations, nothing more. It's reckoned that as many as 5% of the general population suffers from this, but that most people don't talk about it outside of specialised forums. For obvious reasons...

You may not have noticed you were paralysed, as your hallucinations were so vivid, but I'm guessing you were. Those of us who get this frequently are able to concentrate and become aware of both bodies - the real one lying paralysed on the bed and the dream body flying around the room or whatever.

This phenomenon is strongly hereditary. Obviously it has to start somewhere, so you might be the first one in your family, but it might be worth enquiring around your parents, siblings and other relatives. If they're prepared to talk about it of course. Mine started at a moment of extreme stress, in the run-up to my final nursing exams. This had certainly never been covered in my training, so I too was absolutely terrified. When I told my parents, they just shrugged it off. In fact, my mother even made some unpleasant, hysterical accusations. I only found out 20 years later that my father and at least one of his siblings had always had it. My mother had sworn him to secrecy because they both thought it was a sign of insanity! Practically all my father's senses were affected by his hallucinations. He eventually told me (on a day when my mother was out of the house!) that he'd once woken to see and smell the decomposing body of his dead brother lying in the bed beside him.

Just a small warning, Lachlan. Sometimes talking or writing about this phenomenon can produce a few attacks. This doesn't last very long and is simply down to the fact that you've started thinking about it again. So don't panic if you do have another attack in the near future, it doesn't mean you'll keep getting it every night. Although it often happens at times of stress or anxiety, it's not a psychiatric condition, just a sleep disorder and you're not the only sufferer. There is an upside too. Many of us have lucid dreams - the kind in which you become fully conscious and can direct the action. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost this ability with age but it was great while it lasted.

Must stop now. I've probably thought enough about it while writing this to trigger an attack myself tonight! Not that that prospect worries me unduly. You can get used to anything after 50 years, and I know I can't be harmed by these hallucinations.

Yes, I quite clearly see and hear things in my sleep, even thinking Ive made a phone call which I havn't or watch a (sometimes) excitingTV programme with no telly on.  The scripts are brill.  I should be a writer.  They say composers etc. keep notebooks by their bed.  I also see ,floating ghosts, .  In wont say much more for fear of seeming incredibly baryt, but your episode is quite scary as opposed to watching telly or chatting to (pretend) friends.  Are you on any  medication?