You’re not going to fall. It’s just a dream

I happen to be one out of every three people who have the unique ability to be scared of heights. lol. People call it phobia (Acrophobia) but I like to call it ability, at least, to console myself.

Last night, I agreed to follow a friend to an abandoned story building. He had persuaded me several times so I finally yielded. He claimed that going to the flat rooftop of the building will help me overcome my fear of heights. Since he would be going with me, I felt it shouldn’t be that bad after all. We waited till dark at his suggestion so that I wouldn’t easily see the depth of the ground from above and get scared.

The stairs of the building were made of wooden plank which ascended to the upper part of the building. We held a small torch to reveal where we step. Our weight seems to be bringing down the whole stairs. When I voiced my fears, my friend told me it was all in my head.

The feel of a spider web on my skin made me cringe. It felt as if a ghost had touched me. When I noticed I have been entangled in a spider web I struggled to get it off my body. We were almost there. Just a few more steps and we are on the rooftop. But the earlier sensation made me walk carelessly. As I stepped on the last stair I heard a creak which lasted only for a short time as if the stair was about to give way. My heart pant and I whispered a few prayers under my breath. The creaking continued and as I lifted my leg and the plank gave way in the middle. I struggled to regain my balance but the broken stair left my body floating freely in the air. At that moment I could feel my spirit leaving my body as I was about to hit the floor, then I woke up. It felt as if I had just escaped a great danger. The sensation was so real it felt everything had happened to me live.

^{Creative common: pexel}

Hypnic Jerk is why your fall in dream seems real

Chances are that you have also had the same experience as mine. Where you had a dream of falling from a height and suddenly waking you up from sleep with the same sensation. That’s because it happens to about 60 – 70 % of people ^[3]. This falling sensation is called hypnic jerk.

Hypnic Jerk is defined as an involuntary twitch which occurs when a person is beginning to fall asleep. [source]

This twitch usually occurs during the first stage of sleep. Let’s talk about these stages of sleep for a while. We sleep in cycles and each cycle usually last for about 90 minutes ^[1]. This means if you enjoy having a good night sleep of about 7-8 hours you have experienced about 5 sleep cycle. The sleep cycle is divided into two which are NREM and REM. NREM is also known as the stage of Non-Rapid Eye Movement and involve a gradual progression from a state of wakefulness through the state of deep sleep. This is followed by the REM, Rapid Eye Movement stage where dream is said to occur and it ends a sleep cycle. After the REM stage, there is usually a period of wakefulness as the body begins another cycle of sleep begins.

Hypnic jerk is said to usually occur in the first stage of sleep or when you about switching from a state of wakefulness to sleep. Hypnic jerk may cause you to become at alert suddenly while it also comes with other physical signs such as sweating and increased heartbeat. You may also find yourself still trying to recover from the shock that you did not truly fall from a height. However, this will not always wake you from sleep. So it is possible you have experienced a hypnic jerk but it did not wake up ^{[3], [4]}.

It is not dangerous when you experience hypnic jerk. In fact, about 70% of people in the world have experienced it before ^[3]. However, you should see your doctor if you experience this more often than usual.

What are the Causes of Hypnic jerk?

There are several explanations that have been proposed for this topic and why we experience a sudden twitch when we are about to sleep. Our body is relaxed during sleep. One of such explanations is that the brain fires signals that the resting body can still interpret. When we are asleep, our body is in a state of rest. During the stages of sleep, our heartbeat reduces, our muscles become calm. Even dreams are not expected to make you not make you twitch but sometimes, signals can escape your brain and your resting body reacts and suddenly jolt. Especially when you dream that you are in danger. The brain actually thinks the body is falling ^[4]. You are actually falling asleep trying to relax but the brain misinterprets the muscle relaxation process and thinks you are falling hence the involuntary jerking of arms and legs that usually follows.

If you are a night owl like me, chances are that you will experience this. It is known that people who usually stay up late do not have a particular sleeping habit. This has been associated with increased occurrence of hypnic jerk. Also, people who like to stay awake late in the night are usually found to use stimulants such as coffee to help them keep focus. These stimulants often affect the normal sleeping pattern as it interferes with the normal body process that coordinates sleep. I have personally experienced more hypnic jerk because of my irregular sleep pattern. When you don’t sleep well the chances that you are going to experience hypnic jerk increases.

Both physical and emotional stress plays contributes to this condition. It is said that exercising a few hours to bed can cause the body to twitch during sleep. Also, an emotional breakdown can seriously affect how we sleep. It can make us become nervous and worry about so many things. Emotional challenges can be difficult to control and it is associated with stress.

An article in the Journal of neuroscience and rural practice, reported a case of a 45-year-old woman who experienced hypnic jerk as a result of a reaction to <a href=”https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/ escitalopram”>escitalopram (antidepressant). She was going through depression and she started isolating herself. She no longer takes part in social activities as she used to and the medication was recommended to her. Although the medication helped but she reported that she started experiencing hypnic jerk after 6 weeks of taking the medication ^[3].

Although people experience hypnic jerk immediately after experiencing a nightmare but not all hypnic jerk is preceded by dreams, especially dreams which involve falling from a height. A dream interpreter has a different approach to explaining this. She thinks hypnic jerk is a sign that you’ve been holding on for too long to a particular issue making you worried. It can be worried about money, your job, family or anything that makes you feel vulnerable.

Can you avoid hypnic jerk?

^{creative commons: Unsplash}
Hypnic jerk can make you become worried and sometimes make you scared to go back to sleep. Even if this feeling won't totally go away it is better to understand that it is not a dangerous thing. Also, know that you are not the only one affected and there is the possibility of controlling it if you know what triggers it. Getting worried or anxious maybe you will experience it again will do you no good as it is likely to increase the chances of it occurring again.

Form a good sleeping habit and maintain the pattern. As much as you can you should also cut down the heavy intake of stimulants especially, late in the night. If you had a rough day you may try to take a cold shower or meditate before you sleep at night. People have reported that meditating before bedtime help them to reduce its occurrence. You can try taking yoga or dancing lesson to relieve calm you down.

But above all, when this experience is too much it is better to visit your doctor to diagnose you and give you the best recommendation and treatment.

Reference

1. Sleep cycle - Wikipedia
2. Hypnic Jerk - Wikipedia
3. Why do people ‘twitch’ when falling asleep?
4. A case of the jerks
5. Hypnic jerks possible induced by escitalopram doi: https://10.4103/0976-3147.158797
6. Dreams about falling: dream meanings explained