ANCSLEEP BLOG

Have you ever been sleep and felt like you saw or heard something that ended up not being there? This can be quite an unsettling and frightening experience, especially when you're transitioning between sleep and being awake. Hallucinations can be caused by a lack of sleep, underlying condition, or the use of a certain substance. 

One of these hallucinations is called hypnopompic hallucination which is a specific type of hallucination that happens right when you are waking up. If you experience these often, it can be helpful to determine what exactly could be the cause. Continue reading to learn more about them, and what you can do about them. 

Rapid Eye Movement, REM, sleep is the fourth and final stage of each sleep cycle. This stage is the closest to being awake that you can be, partly due to the amount of eye movement that happens. Your heart beats faster and you breathe faster because this is the stage where dreams happen. 

It's important to understand sleep cycles. A good night of sleep has anywhere from four to six sleep cycles that last 90-110 minutes. There are four stages of sleep, the first three known as non-REM; NREM1, NREM2, NREM3. Then REM is the final part before we begin the cycle all over again. 

Have you ever heard your alarm go off, and got up and did your normal routine, just to realize it was all a dream? This is known as false awakening. They are one of several weird things that can happen during rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep. 

Continue reading to find out why they occur, how they are related to other strange sleeping phenomenon, and when it's definitely time to talk to a physician.