Ever Wake Up and Realize Youre Still Dreaming?
Have you ever found yourself trying to wake up from a dream, but can’t?
Or that you keep dreaming that you’re waking up?
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This is a common sleep event known as false awakening.
This takes place if you think you are awake, but in reality, you are still asleep.
Symptoms
In simple terms, a false awakening is thinking you are awake while you are dreaming.
They are very common, and almost every person will have them at some point in their life.
With that said, the symptoms can vary from one person to the next.
The features of a false awakening may include:
What Triggers Sleep Paralysis?
Some experts believe that false awakenings occur when REM sleep is interrupted.
This is a form of sleep fragmentation, also known as divided sleep.
What Is Protoconsciousness?
This is considered to be the earliest stage of consciousness.
Getting a good night’s sleep is probably the best way to prevent false awakenings.
That’s because they tend to happen when your sleep is disturbed.
Speak with your healthcare provider if you have frequent problems with falling and staying asleep.
If this occurs, ask your healthcare provider for a referral to a sleep specialist known as asomnologist.
Some studies have shown that the practice is very useful in people withpost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The high blood pressure drugMinipress (prazosin)is also sometimes used to reduce nightmares in people with PTSD.
How Do I Force Myself to Wake Up From a Dream?
There are a number of techniques you might take a stab at help you wake from a dream.
The symptoms can vary from one person to the next.
This usually starts by diagnosing the underlying cause using asleep studyor other techniques.
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Buzzi G.False awakenings in light of the dream protoconsciousness theory: a study in lucid dreamers.Int J Dream Res.
2011; 4(2).
El-Solh AA.Management of nightmares in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder: current perspectives.Nat Sci Sleep.
2018;10:40910. doi:10.2147/NSS.S166089
No Sleepless Nights.False awakening: Dreaming about waking up.
