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Original poster

Is anybody else able to force themselves out of a dream?

42 replies

Dreamymcdreamer · 10/12/2020 22:08

This is hard to put into words so hopefully I explain this ok!

So last night i slept really badly, I kept being aware that I was dreaming and trying to force myself awake.

I don't think I was having a nightmare so there wasn't really a need to force myself awake, and it was like I couldnt stop myself trying to wake myself up!?

It felt like I was thrashing around and screaming trying to wake myself up, almost like I was trying to burst out of my own body, but I wasn't actually moving in real life as otherwise I would have woken my DH up.

It's almost as if I brought myself just to the brink of consciousness but before I could fully wake up, i kept falling back into a fitful sleep, and then it all started again.

This doesn't happen all the time but has happened to me a number of times in my adult life, maybe about a dozen times?

I've tried googling it but it just brings up false awakening (which its not) and lucid dreaming (which I'm pretty sure its not but I'm not sure)

Does anyone else get this or am I just a weirdo? Please don't tell me I'm possessed Grin

OP posts:
BeefPho · 10/12/2020 22:10

Haha, you're not possessed! I can wake myself up out of a nightmare. I just really will it then thrash about like you said and I'm up. Though I haven't met anyone in real life who can do it

borntohula · 10/12/2020 22:10

Hmm I don't know much about sleep paralysis but it could be?

Original poster
Dreamymcdreamer · 10/12/2020 22:17

@beefpho yes it's like my brain just wills it to happen and I thrash about but my husband is a really light sleeper so theres no way I could have been actually thrashing about as I would have woken him up, but I'm glad someone else knows what I mean! I think in the past it's been when I've had nightmares but I'm pretty sure i wasn't having a nightmare last night. Tell you what though I was exhausted this morning!

@borntohula I'll google sleep paralysis now and see if that's it!

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Original poster
Dreamymcdreamer · 10/12/2020 22:22

@borntohula I think you're right! It says its where you're trying to move your muscles but you can't because you're in sleep mode but your brain is active. So I guess that would explain how I felt like I should have been thrashing about but I wasn't. There's also an image on google images of someone looking down on themselves in bed and when I saw it it made remember that's how it was last night - like I was inside my body thrashing about but also stood next to myself watching at the same time. Creepy!

It says usually people only experience it once or twice in their life but I've had it way more than that, lucky me..!

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redferrari · 10/12/2020 22:25

I have had this and it's the worst. Even the memory of it is scary. Are you generally worried or anxious about something? I had it during a period when I was worried about something a lot.

NoSquirrels · 10/12/2020 22:27

Strange - I thought from your title you meant lucid dreaming, because I can and do ‘wake myself up’ if I don’t like what’s going on in my dream - the ‘real me’ can sort of intervene with the ‘character me’ who’s in the story. It’s like I’m the author and the character at the same time. And if the story is going wrong I can wake up to reset it. Usually works, I don’t often have proper nightmares.

But what you’re describing sounds horrible. Hope you get a better night’s sleep tonight Flowers

Tish008 · 10/12/2020 22:28

Yes I do it, I lucid dream quite often and if the dream is going in a direction I don't like I just decide to wake up. No thrashing around at all.

Richard wise man's book night school is good if you want to read up on sleeping science.

Also did a very funny podcast on the infinite monkey cage

RealisticSketch · 10/12/2020 22:28

I do this, only last night in fact. Sometimes if I am in a nightmare I can be aware I'm having a nightmare almost as though I'm outside of the experience and if I told like how is going but can't wake up I can change the story line instead into something less horrid. So glad I'm not alone. 😊

RealisticSketch · 10/12/2020 22:30

@NoSquirrels

Strange - I thought from your title you meant lucid dreaming, because I can and do ‘wake myself up’ if I don’t like what’s going on in my dream - the ‘real me’ can sort of intervene with the ‘character me’ who’s in the story. It’s like I’m the author and the character at the same time. And if the story is going wrong I can wake up to reset it. Usually works, I don’t often have proper nightmares.

But what you’re describing sounds horrible. Hope you get a better night’s sleep tonight Flowers

Ha! Cross post. You put it better than me. Grin
Original poster
Dreamymcdreamer · 10/12/2020 22:30

@redferrari ah sorry to hear that you have it too Flowers I do have anxiety generally and finished a course of therapy for it about a month ago and thought I'd been generally doing ok since, but I am feeling a bit worried in general at the moment as I'm at a bit of a crossroads in life and have been worrying about what to do/which way to turn so it could be that I guess!

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JiltedJohnsJulie · 10/12/2020 22:31

I can wake myself up from a nightmare too. Occasionally I have to take an antibiotic which gives me horrendous nightmares. One was so scary that I forced myself awake. Now I know I can do it it can be useful at times.

Draculahhh · 10/12/2020 22:33

I drag myself out of dreams I don't like and weirdly put myself into ones I prefer. Im only vaguely aware of this at the time.

Original poster
Dreamymcdreamer · 10/12/2020 22:33

@nosquirrels @realisticsketch @tish008 ah that's so interesting! Sorry if the title was misleading I wrote the title first and then as I wrote my post and gathered my thoughts a bit more I probably should have redone the title before posting! I will look up Richard Wiseman, thanks!

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startswithanL · 10/12/2020 22:34

Omg I can also do this!! I squeeze my eyes together and hey presto I'm back in bed my eyes so tightly forced together I'm giving myself a headache but I'm out of my nightmare...thought I was the only one Grin

longwayoff · 10/12/2020 22:35

I'm an unexcitable person and have quite boring dreams, mostly humdrum everyday stuff. If my dream goes into 'dream mode' and things start getting silly, my rational mind kicks in, I realise it's a dream and wake myself up.

GCITC · 10/12/2020 22:37

Definitely sounds like a form of sleep paralysis. I get it occasionally along with a whole host of other dream related weirdness.

Can be incredibly scary, even when you know what it is and you know it's happening.

Gobolino80 · 10/12/2020 22:37

I can wake myself up from a bad dream, well, I can make myself start whimpering until DP wakes me up enough to come out of the dream - he's always so lovely and strokes my hair until I go back to sleep. It's definitely a conscious thing, In my dream I'm like "right, this is just a nightmare and you need to wake up" and I can hear myself whimpering louder and louder until he shakes me awake.
It usually happens after I take any sleep aid containing valerian.

gluteustothemaximus · 10/12/2020 22:37

Yes, I do the squeeze eyes shut tight in my dream, think about waking up and then I'm awake. It's very handy as used to have really awful dreams for many years.

redferrari · 10/12/2020 22:38

With sleep paralysis you can't move or speak. It almost as if you are unconscious. I remember trying to move my fingers legs etc to gain control over my body but then I couldn't. I can't remember how I snapped out of it. With nightmares I usually talk to myself or just wake up and give myself a shake.
Op hope you get a good nights sleep. I find walking a lot and tiring myself out made me sleep better. Having said that I have to resume my walks as I haven't been out due to cold weather and dark evenings before I finish work.

Mycircusmymonkey · 10/12/2020 22:39

Yes I can wake myself up from a bad dream, I’ve even enlisted DH’s help before by shouting “wake me up please”. He gave me a firm nudge before muttering “idiot” and going back to sleep himself Grin

Mycircusmymonkey · 10/12/2020 22:40

Can we swap husbands Gobolino80!

TheFlis12345 · 10/12/2020 22:40

I can absolutely wake myself up if a dream is heading bad. Sometimes I even have a little chat with myself and decide whether to wake up or not if I am not sure where it’s going!

Original poster
Dreamymcdreamer · 10/12/2020 22:44

Thanks all, seems like there's lots of you that can have some level of control over your dreams and wake yourselves up!

And seems there's a few that have the same as I've experienced which is horrible but comforting that it's not just me.

@theflis12345 haha I love that - like when you're part way through a film that you're not keen on and you think "hmm I'll give it 10 more minutes and then I'll switch it off!"

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Whatsyouremergency · 10/12/2020 22:46

I have terrible nightmares due to PTSD, but over time I’ve learned how to wake up. It’s mostly when I feel my heart racing in a dream I can wake myself up by putting both hands on my head in the dream. Sounds weird I know, but it’s like a tether that’ll snap me out of it.

NaturesEnd · 10/12/2020 22:48

I had one dream where I was fully conscious, fully awake, I was in a train station and I was screaming at the passengers "am I dead" Shock

It was so scary, it only lasted a short while and I woke up to my usual view, I was so relieved. It wasn't at all like a lucid dream, have had those before, it was as if I had slipped into a different reality.

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