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[HappyBivouac]

I've been getting this for years now, pretty regularly. It happens several times a week. Usually I'll fall asleep and start dreaming, and pretty quickly start to lose control of motor functions and feel completely helpless. Often this comes with fading or blurred eyesight and other hindrances as well. It's an extremely discomforting feeling, and usually happens in dream situations where I'm in danger or otherwise need to fix a bad situation, but can't.

For example, I had a dream where I was driving a car at night with 3 others in the vehicle, then I found I was, for some reason, sitting in the backseat but somehow still driving with a steering wheel and pedals in front of me. I mean, who the hell designed that car? The car started veering off to the side and grinding against a guardrail, but I couldn't move my arms properly to turn the wheel or hit the brakes, and I felt inexplicably drunk, as if I'd just had 20 shots of something. Not in a happy way, mind you, but in a miserable, dizzy, what the hell is going on kind of way. The car crashed and I was lying on the pavement with barely any vision. The police showed up and let me just lie there while they asked questions, and when I tried to say the words in my mind, they just came out as garbled nonsense and I could barely move my mouth. I think I woke up at that point.

Another example occurred during an afternoon nap today. I was getting off work early in the dream, and myself and a bunch of friends were going over to the house of a few people I didn't know to hang out and play video games for the afternoon. The moment we entered the place, everyone sat down on sofas and chairs and started chatting, and people tried to introduce me. I was sitting on the floor for some reason, and a friend of mine said "holy fuck I'm drunk after only one beer" (I don't think we'd even been drinking) and I was already wondering why the hell I was on the floor and barely aware of what was happening around me. I tried to explain to him that I felt drunk too or something was really fucked up because we certainly shouldn't be, but again, the words were just garbled nonsense. My friends started saying "what the hell, he's normally really cool" and the others were just shrugging, saying "at least he's kinda funny" or something. At this point I couldn't explain myself or sit up and my arms felt really slow and heavy and I couldn't even hear people around me, so I just laid there on the floor for a moment and woke up.

There are other examples as well: burning house, armed assault/robbery in the street, drowning, etc. The common thread of drunkenness/alcohol from those first two dreams I described isn't really a recurring thing; just the loss of motor function and other physical/sensory hindrances. Always with this comes an increasing sense of dread and panic, and I usually wake up sweating.

Anyone had this kind of thing? Any psychologists know anything about this? It gets pretty bad sometimes.

EDIT:

I should add that sometimes (not always/not sure) it comes with a sort of slow waking up. I become just slightly aware of my real life surroundings while still also in the dream, and still unable or mostly unable to move. This leads me to think it could very well be a form of sleep paralysis, but once I'm fully in the waking world I don't have any trouble moving, speaking, etc. I've also never experienced any of the stuff people talk about like feeling a presence or seeing shadowy figures, and I still very clearly still feel like I'm in the dream. It doesn't really line up with what I've read about sleep paralysis, but maybe?

 

[CarpeDeezNutz]

Is there something you're worked up about right now?

 

[Dusk Golem]

Dreams are only a reflection of self because it's your mind conjuring the images from the subconcious. I'm no psychologist but this being reoccuring and very specific certainly paints the picture that you're dealing with something. If I had to take a swing at it I'd guess you're feeling like you don't have control and people don't understand you, you're afraid of fucking up and being useless. Least what it sounds like to me.

 

[ArgyleReptile]

I'm no dream scientists or psychologists, but it seems like you have a slight fear of not being in control that manifests in your dreams.

I guess another question would be how do you sleep? I've noticed that my sleep position can affect the dreams I have.

 

[NeoGold123]

Have you tried any kind of lucid dreaming conditioning? I have pretty vivid and often terrifying dreams, and that helped me get through a pretty rough patch, and still helps me out when I feel like things are getting a little out of control during my dreams.

 

[HappyBivouac]

I should add that sometimes (not always/not sure) it comes with a sort of slow waking up. I become just slightly aware of my real life surroundings while still also in the dream, and still unable or mostly unable to move. This leads me to think it could very well be a form of sleep paralysis, but once I'm fully in the waking world I don't have any trouble moving, speaking, etc. I've also never experienced any of the stuff people talk about like feeling a presence or seeing shadowy figures, and I still very clearly still feel like I'm in the dream. It doesn't really line up with what I've read about sleep paralysis, but maybe?

 

[HappyBivouac]

Is there something you're worked up about right now?

I don't think there's anything I'm deeply troubled by. And this has been going on for years.

Dreams are only a reflection of self because it's your mind conjuring the images from the subconcious. I'm no psychologist but this being reoccuring and very specific certainly paints the picture that you're dealing with something. If I had to take a swing at it I'd guess you're feeling like you don't have control and people don't understand you, you're afraid of fucking up and being useless. Least what it sounds like to me.

That sounds like a pretty common fear for people. Could be.

 

[TissueBox]

Awaken to your true purpose, all-seeing one!!

In seriousness, no clue what that could be, but there's such a wide range of factors and possibilities, some personal, others a simple mental cause-and-effect.

In other news, though, that is a great album. ^^'

 

[j_k_redtail]

I think you're right - it really does sound like sleep paralysis, which can sometimes be associated with hypnagogiic hallucinations.

When your brain enters a REM state, your body turns off the connection to your muscles (to keep you from thrashing around, since your brain is very electrically active during REM). If you haven't lost consciousness by that point (for whatever reason) you'll feel the paralysis spread and it can be very disconcerting (hence the "loss of control" feeling).

You should see a doctor about it, but until then, try changing your sleeping position. Some people find that it helps to sleep on your belly.

 

[KKRT00]

For me its quite normal to loss some motor functions in dreams when i start waking up and i'm not in the lowest phase of dreaming.

 

[Chococat]

If it is that bad, definitely go see a doctor.

In the mean time, assuming it is a form of sleep paralyses, try to train yourself to break the cycle.

When you find yourself in that scary state, focus on trying to move a part of your body, like opening and closing your hand. It will not happen immediately, just keep focusing. Your body will wake up.

By focusing on a small movement, it cuts down sense of panic and fear.

Don't focus on your breathing! Since your still in the sleep state, your shallow breaths will feel like drowning/choking/not getting enough air to your awake mind.

It hard, but you gotta attack the SP with logic. Now days, for me it is like "Stupid, SP. Alright hand- flex, flex, flex. Broken. "

 

[SomTervo]

Sounds like sleep paralysis?
Often triggered by stress or bad sleep hygiene.