Experiencing "the Drop" when going asleep

highdef

Hi
Just wondering what causes the sensation you get when you awaken very suddenly as you drift off to sleep. It seems to happen just as you are going from being concious to being unconcious. You usually wake with a very abrupt jolt and you often feel quite shaken up and sometimes a little paranoid (in my case anyway). I've heard it's called a "drop". Could be wrong there though. Have other people experienced this? Also, what causes it and why?

climaxer

ntl Technical wrote:

Hi
Just wondering what causes the sensation you get when you awaken very suddenly as you drift off to sleep. It seems to happen just as you are going from being concious to being unconcious. You usually wake with a very abrupt jolt and you often feel quite shaken up and sometimes a little paranoid (in my case anyway). I've heard it's called a "drop". Could be wrong there though. Have other people experienced this? Also, what causes it and why?

Haven't a clue what causes it, but it happens to me a lot. I'm usually half dreaming about falling - its usually on bootskates and I slip and that's when I wake up with a jolt! For some reason it happened me more when I was a kid. Speaking of dreams I tend to have very realistic dreams - so much so I often had to wonder if it was real for a few mins after I wake up. My daughter is the same and talks, laughs, cries and sits up and stares staight ahead in her dreams. I'm also always dreaming I've woken up yet its only in the dream! Happened me the other morning again - dreamt I woke up, myself and the kids all ready for school and work, then I really wake up and almost cry that I'm not even up yet. I am so not a morning person.

Sleipnir

It when your mind 'drops' into REM sleep too fast.
Think of jolting awake as a reboot.

Zulu

The going theory is...
Your brain is beginning to move into deeper sleep (and start to paralyse the body to prevent sleep walking), but your conscious - for some reason (you're not comfortable enough or something bothering you) rejects the notion and awakens you with a jolt.

Sorry if I'm making no sense - I didn't study it myself, but it was explained to me by a very convincing friend that did. (Apologies for the second hand info)

stevenmu

There's another thing where your heart skips a beat while your asleep. It's happened me a few times, it feels like you've fallen and impacted something. I always wake straight up with my heart racing and not out of breath but breathing quickly, it feels very similar to a car crash or a sudden unexpected fall from something, usually I'd dream about something similar when it happens.

climaxer

Zulu wrote:

The going theory is...
Your brain is beginning to move into deeper sleep (and start to paralyse the body to prevent sleep walking), but your conscious - for some reason (you're not comfortable enough or something bothering you) rejects the notion and awakens you with a jolt.

Sorry if I'm making no sense - I didn't study it myself, but it was explained to me by a very convincing friend that did. (Apologies for the second hand info)

That sounds about right - my brain works overtime and so does my daughter's - so maybe we tend to be thinking too much and let trivial things bother us whereas some people can just clear their head and nod off.

ixoy

*raises hand* Another one here. Always wondered that sensation was of suddenly dropping. Sometimes it's felt a little like I was sitting in a foldup chair and it collapsed beneath me. It always knocks me awake with my heart racing and yeah, like Climaxer, I've a brain that won't stop its idle chatter. Well good to know others are in the same boat...

stevenmu

Just re-read the original post and I think Zulus explantion is the right one, I think the missing a heart beat thing only happens when you're already in deep sleep.

flygirl

This happens everyone, quite simply it just means that you're about to go into a really deep sleep.
I usually get it when I'm really tired but it's always a fright!

Note: not to be confused with the 'heebie jeebies' after a few consecutive nights on the batter (i.e. random limbs flying in the air, extensive tossing & turning etc) which is purely alcohol related

Zulu

flygirl wrote:

the 'heebie jeebies' after a few consecutive nights on the batter (i.e. random limbs flying in the air, extensive tossing & turning etc) which is purely alcohol related

Usually afer a day of PASU.

Boro

Zulu wrote:

The going theory is...
Your brain is beginning to move into deeper sleep (and start to paralyse the body to prevent sleep walking), but your conscious - for some reason (you're not comfortable enough or something bothering you) rejects the notion and awakens you with a jolt.

Sorry if I'm making no sense - I didn't study it myself, but it was explained to me by a very convincing friend that did. (Apologies for the second hand info)

This happens quite often to me also. Its kind of like getting a slap, or an electric shock or something - no specific location... wierd huh?

Although, sometime ago i was researching Deja Vu, a subject that interests me quite a bit and i came across this :

http://www.brainyencyclopedia.com/encyclopedia/d/de/deja_vu.html wrote:

A clinical correlation has been found between the experience of déjà vu and disorders such as schizophrenia and anxiety, and the likelihood of the experience increases considerably with subjects having these conditions. However, the strongest pathological association of déjà vu is with temporal lobe epilepsy. This correlation has led some researchers to speculate that the experience of déjà vu is possibly a neurological anomaly related to improper electrical discharge in the brain. As most people suffer a mild (ie. non-pathological) epileptic episode regularly (eg. the sudden "jolt", a hypnagogic jerk, that frequently occurs just prior to falling asleep), it is conjectured that a similar (mild) neurological aberration occurs in the experience of déjà vu, resulting in an erroneous "memory".

cajun_tiger

stevenmu wrote:

There's another thing where your heart skips a beat while your asleep. It's happened me a few times, it feels like you've fallen and impacted something. I always wake straight up with my heart racing and not out of breath but breathing quickly, it feels very similar to a car crash or a sudden unexpected fall from something, usually I'd dream about something similar when it happens.

i've had a very bad problem with something like that but it's medical.. my heart stop's beating sometime's when i sleep or drink too much(tisk tisk i know) but i jump sometimes and my heart starts again or get that jolt thing. happened really bad last weekend my guy got freaked and thumped my chest because he couldn't hear my heart beat. i don't remember but it woke him up a bit..

Bottle_of_Smoke

happened to me tonight on the bus. freaked out the guy sitting beside me, keeps happening in chemistry lectures too.

So i'd go with that theory that you're really tired but not comfortable enough

PurpleFistMixer

I heard somewhere, (or possibly I dreamed it up because I have no references) that it was actually when you sleep your muscles tense up or something to stop you actually.. doing stuff while you sleep, and that the feeling of falling is that of your muscles relaxing and becoming active again. Or possibly this is something different.