Every day, there’s one specific moment I
look forward to: when I can climb into
bed and fall asleep.
There’s no better feeling than lying down
at the end of a long day in your
comfortable, cozy bed.
Most of us think of sleeping as a pleasant
experience, but for some people it’s
actually something to dread. For people
with insomnia and other sleep disorders,
getting into bed can actually be a
stressful experience.
Lots of people have heard of things like
sleepwalking and restless leg syndrome,
but there are less well-known things that
can also happen when you’re asleep like
REM sleep behavior disorder and sleep
paralysis.
Do you know anyone who has these
scary sleep problems? Someone in your
family might have one and you might not
even know it!
Read below to find out more about some
of the weirdest things that can happen to
your body when you’re asleep.
#1: You Can Become
Paralyzed
According to WebMD, “Sleep paralysis is
a feeling of being conscious but unable to
move. It occurs when a person passes
between stages of wakefulness and
sleep. During these transitions, you may
be unable to move or speak for a few
seconds up to a few minutes. Some
people may also feel pressure or a sense
of choking.”
Pretty terrifying, right? Find out more
about sleep paralysis in this article below.
#2: You Can Stop Breathing
It’s possible to stop breathing when
you’re asleep — for seconds or minutes
at a time. This is called sleep apnea.
According to the National Heart, Lung,
and Blood Institute, “Sleep apnea is a
common disorder in which you have one
or more pauses in breathing or shallow
breaths while you sleep.”
#3: You Can Act Out Your
Dreams
While some of us wish our dreams would
become a reality, we probably don’t want
to act out our dreams while we’re
sleeping — but that’s exactly what
happens in REM sleep behavior disorder.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Rapid eye
movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder
is a sleep disorder in which you physically
act out vivid, often unpleasant dreams
with vocal sounds and sudden, often
violent arm and leg movements during
REM sleep — sometimes called dream-
enacting behavior.”