Ah, yes. That old favourite dream. This dream has the 'fun' (if you can even remotely call it that) physiological side effect of being closely tied into the hypnic jerk, a largely randomly occurring spasm that accompanies the feeling of falling when you're just about cosy enough to drift off to the Land of Nod (i.e. the mini heart attack just before you fall asleep.) Fortunately these hypnic jerks are only occasional for most people, but that doesn't stop them being tied into one of the most frightening and commonplace nightmares to experience - the falling nightmare, one where you are plummeting towards the ground or sea, unable to stop yourself. What It Means... Most experts in the dream-study field suggest that dreams and nightmares about falling are linked to an ongoing situation of anxiety which are causing the dreamer to feel out of control in their day-to-day lives. Without a controlled environment they can manipulate physically, the dreamer subconsciously feels as if they are going without a safety net - literally without anything to catch them, leading to the idea of falling to emerge prominently. The dream of falling is not only psychologically threatening, it is also an actualised physical threat, and as such can cause physiological panic. Unfounded urban legends of people dying in their sleep after falling from a great height in their dream are abound (if a complete falsity), and physiological studies have found that sufferers of falling dreams often experience traumatic awakening from sleep, greatly affecting their nights sleep and potentially leading to further problems down the line. Let's hope none of us have that particular dream tonight then, eh?
Ah, yes. That old favourite dream. This dream has the 'fun' (if you can even remotely call it that) physiological side effect of being closely tied into the hypnic jerk, a largely randomly occurring spasm that accompanies the feeling of falling when you're just about cosy enough to drift off to the Land of Nod (i.e. the mini heart attack just before you fall asleep.) Fortunately these hypnic jerks are only occasional for most people, but that doesn't stop them being tied into one of the most frightening and commonplace nightmares to experience - the falling nightmare, one where you are plummeting towards the ground or sea, unable to stop yourself. What It Means... Most experts in the dream-study field suggest that dreams and nightmares about falling are linked to an ongoing situation of anxiety which are causing the dreamer to feel out of control in their day-to-day lives. Without a controlled environment they can manipulate physically, the dreamer subconsciously feels as if they are going without a safety net - literally without anything to catch them, leading to the idea of falling to emerge prominently. The dream of falling is not only psychologically threatening, it is also an actualised physical threat, and as such can cause physiological panic. Unfounded urban legends of people dying in their sleep after falling from a great height in their dream are abound (if a complete falsity), and physiological studies have found that sufferers of falling dreams often experience traumatic awakening from sleep, greatly affecting their nights sleep and potentially leading to further problems down the line. Let's hope none of us have that particular dream tonight then, eh?