Waking Dreams

[DeistPaladin]

The other day I was talking with my wife about a show she was watching called "The Dead Files". For those who don't know, our views on the spiritual are interestingly opposed. I'm a deist who doesn't believe in souls or an afterlife. She's an atheist who does believe in spirits or ghosts.

Anyway, I walked in as a person on the show was being interviewed about her paranormal experience. She was having a nightmare about a sinister ghost. When she woke up, the ghost was still standing there by her bed.

I shrugged and said no big deal. It's rare but it does happen. When I was a kid, the subject of my childhood nightmares sometimes lingered for a few moments after I woke up. They would fade away after a few seconds. It was frightening but after the first time I remember it happening, I figured that our imagination keeps the dream going for a few seconds as we wake up. It's funny how looking back that even in childhood I would try to find natural explanations for these things. I was a budding skeptic, I suppose.

It was a rare experience and it hasn't happened to me since puberty.

She looked at me sideways, in a sort of "seriously?" expression. She's never had that experience and doesn't think it's normal or natural at all. Dreams always end when we wake. They never "linger".

Anyone know anything about this? Was it childhood imagination that got the best of my senses? Does this sort of thing happen to others?

[Minimalist]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

Many people who experience sleep paralysis are struck with a deep sense of terror when they sense a menacing presence in the room while paralyzed—hereafter referred to as the intruder. A neurological interpretation of this phenomenon is that it results from a hyper-vigilant state created in the midbrain.[9] More specifically, the emergency response is activated in the brain when individuals wake up paralyzed and feel vulnerable to attack.[10] This helplessness can intensify the effects of the threat response well above the level typical of normal dreams, which could explain why such visions during sleep paralysis are so vivid

[DeistPaladin]

... sleep paralysis ...

Not quite. I could move when I woke. It's just what I saw lingered until it faded a few seconds later. This is more like a hallucination.

[KUSA]

I'm a deist who doesn't believe in souls or an afterlife. She's an atheist who does believe in spirits or ghosts.

Sounds like both of you have issues with reality.

[Faith No More]

There isn't a simple dividing line between being awake and asleep. Our consciousness flows back and forth in a malleable fashion with there being different layers of alertness. Plus, you have to realize that the brain is comprised of several different regions of neurons that process their own sub-functions independently of the main function of the brain as a whole. So, when the brain attempts to awaken, one function can lag behind another creating a sort of fuzzy state of consciousness in which we perceive a blurring of the two realities.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm a deist who doesn't believe in souls or an afterlife. She's an atheist who does believe in spirits or ghosts.

Sounds like both of you have issues with reality.

So, do you feel better for having gotten that off your chest?

I guess being decent is difficult for some folks.

[Jackalope]

... sleep paralysis ...

Not quite. I could move when I woke. It's just what I saw lingered until it faded a few seconds later. This is more like a hallucination.

Hypopompic hallucination. It's fairly common.

[KUSA]

Sounds like both of you have issues with reality.

So, do you feel better for having gotten that off your chest?

I guess being decent is difficult for some folks.

Yes I do. It feels like I shot a hot load in somebody's face. Very satisfying.

[DeistPaladin]

Sounds like both of you have issues with reality.

So, do you feel better for having gotten that off your chest?

I guess being decent is difficult for some folks.

Meh. Water off a duck's back. I actually chuckled a bit.

[Exian]

I get sleep paralysis pretty often. I sleep right through it nowadays. When I was younger it scared the shit out of me. One time in particular, I was 15 or so (still a Christian), and in my dream I was in a car accident when the sleep paralysis kicked in. My whole body started buzzing to the point that it was audible in my ears. I think my brain must have interpreted the buzzing as voices. The voices got louder and louder until they stopped, save one voice that said "Jesus is coming." At which point I shit my pants (not literally) and did my shakey foot technique I use to snap myself out of it (my foot never actually shakes irl). I woke up with the blanket over my face and wasn't about to peek out. I thought Jesus would be standing there, pissed at me for whatever. Haha Those were the good times. It's pretty boring these days.