Thread: Dreaming without sleep paralysis

This is called REM behavior disorder. The REM atonia that normally paralyzes your body during dreams wasn't working. If this persists, you should see a doctor to get medication to treat it.

I read that REM behavior disorder occurs in roughly 1/200 people aged 15-100, the majority of them being middle aged and elderly males.

Originally Posted by dolphin

This is called REM behavior disorder. The REM atonia that normally paralyzes your body during dreams wasn't working. If this persists, you should see a doctor to get medication to treat it.

I read that REM behavior disorder occurs in roughly 1/200 people aged 15-100, the majority of them being middle aged and elderly males.

Except crying in my dreams few years ago, this never happened before. Could it be that the dream was ending and because of that I wasn't paralyzed? Since it was a very long dream, and I didn't move at all during it, except at the end.

The exact cause of this is unknown. Sometimes the paralysis ends too early, sometimes it ends too late. Why this happens we can only guess.

I think the stress that caused the nightmare itself could have also caused the sleep disturbance.

"I once had a dream about eating a giant marshmallow, and when I woke up in the morning, my pillow was gone!"

Originally Posted by Elaol

Except crying in my dreams few years ago, this never happened before. Could it be that the dream was ending and because of that I wasn't paralyzed? Since it was a very long dream, and I didn't move at all during it, except at the end.

Though what Dolphin said is quite true, it could also just be that you might have gotten a few wires crossed in your sleeping/waking systems during or even because of your dream.

Keep in mind that REM Atonia isn't actually a paralysis; your body is fully capable of moving, and doing so fairly quickly, when roused (even actual SP isn't true paralysis, because you are able to move freely as soon as your body catches up with your awake mind, usually in seconds).

So, if you are close to waking, as you may have been, your reticular activating system -- the bit of your brain that sees that you wake up fully every morning -- might already be operating, and, combined or perhaps inspired with the excitement of your dream, it "allowed" the movement in your dream to be acted out physically by your body.

Even if you are not about to wake up, a dream can still have enough impact on your senses that some dream action might bleed through to your body. You might shout out during a nightmare, for instance, breathe rapidly, sweat, or perhaps flick your hands about or move your legs slightly as if running. The brain's systems are all interconnected, and sometimes the controls for disruption of that connectivity (like REM Atonia) are not enough to keep things in line.

Also, and this might sound odd, but you might actually have already been awake. It could be that your body had already begun its process for waking up (either for the day in the morning or for a micro-awakening during the night), but the intensity of your dream -- and your attention on that dream -- might have allowed it to continue well into the waking-up process. So in a sense you were still dreaming while already awake, and your body was actually doing what it was supposed to do by placing that kick. Sort of a reverse SP, if you look at it a certain way.

Acting out occasionally in dreams is not uncommon; it's probably happened to all of us once or twice in life... I suggest that you be concerned if you find yourself regularly kicking your wall when asleep, but let this little adventure go for now.

Originally Posted by dolphin

I think the stress that caused the nightmare itself could have also caused the sleep disturbance.

I agree. When ending highly "dangerous" dreams I am upright upon waking. This is a typical response to a nightmare.