{"id":36474,"date":"2025-07-30T17:58:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T17:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damwebserver.com\/dreamdoctor\/articles\/cant-wake-up-4\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T17:58:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T17:58:20","slug":"cant-wake-up-4","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/damwebserver.com\/dreamdoctor\/articles\/cant-wake-up-4\/","title":{"rendered":"can’t wake up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Pennie\u2014 <\/p>\n

<\/span>This is one of the most common\u2014and disturbing\u2014nightmares that people have. The funny thing is, it\u2019s not really a nightmare! <\/p>\n

<\/span>What you are feeling when you are asleep and trying to wake up is a phenomenon known as \u201cREM pressure.\u201d Your body is trying to keep you asleep so it can continue dreaming. Why? Because you haven\u2019t received your daily quota of REM! (Does your late night clubbing have anything to do with this? You bet!) <\/span><\/p>\n

When scientists first discovered REM in 1953, they began performing all sorts of tests to see how the body\u2014and the mind\u2014would react. For example, it was popular to believe that dreams released the psychological \u201cpressures\u201d of our subconscious minds. By extension, many people were quite sure that, if we didn\u2019t dream, we all would simply go insane. <\/p>\n

<\/span>Only one way to test a theory, right? \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n

<\/span>Being inquisitive minds, these scientists soon began recruiting subjects to experiment with REM deprivation. (To be fair, many of the scientists participated in the experiments themselves.) But the question remained: Would a REM-deprived person soon begin to hallucinate\u2014and maybe hear voices during the day\u2014as unconscious pressures began \u201cseeping\u201d into waking experience? <\/p>\n

<\/span>The answer, they soon learned, is no. REM-deprived patients are tired and grumpy, but they are not psychotic. What the scientists did learn, however, is that the body has an exceptionally strong drive to achieve REM sleep. Toward the end of the experiment, over 35 awakenings (per night) were required to prevent people from dreaming! (The body wants\u2014and needs\u2014its REM!!) It is significant to note that the experiment \u201cended\u201d when the scientists no longer were able to keep their subjects awake. The subjects fell into a deep sleep, immediately began dreaming, and could not be awakened. <\/p>\n

<\/span>What\u2019s the moral of the story? You\u2019re a little bit (maybe a lot!) REM-deprived. If you keep track of when these bouts of sleep paralysis occur, you will note that they almost always are associated with periods of sleep deprivation. Instead of your body waking up when your brain does, it\u2019s asking you (well \u20ac\u00a6insisting, really) that you let it sleep in a bit. The reason why you feel paralyzed is because you are! The body is unable to move <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span> during REM\u2014so we don\u2019t act out our dreams. <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>

<\/span>What\u2019s the good news? You\u2019re not going insane! What\u2019s the bad news? You may have to take a night off of your party schedule \u20ac\u00a6to let your body catch up with your brain! <\/p>\n

Back to original question<\/a>
Back to Sleep Paralysis page<\/a><\/span>
<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[3226,3248],"class_list":["post-36474","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","category-better-sleep-answer","category-sleep-paralysis-better-sleep-answer"],"acf":{"article_id":"1499"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/damwebserver.com\/dreamdoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/36474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/damwebserver.com\/dreamdoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/damwebserver.com\/dreamdoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/damwebserver.com\/dreamdoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damwebserver.com\/dreamdoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}