Many people experience sleep and wakefulness in different ways. Dreaming while awake is one of these experiences that can develop due to psychological factors or other reasons during daily life. Although, this situation is a common occurrence for people.
So why do people dream while awake? In what situations can this happen? In the article, we will discuss these points.
What is having dreams while awake?
Having dreams while awake is a state people experience while walking on the road, watching TV, eating, or traveling. People may not be aware they are dreaming, which can be described as the opposite of lucid dreaming. People who dream while awake are in the dream state at that moment, and they awaken when someone from outside warns them or dissolves in their way.
Why do people have dreams while awake?
There are various reasons for dreaming while awake, but the main one is the absence of REM sleep, the stage in which dreams usually occur. At this stage, the eyes move faster, there are physiological responses such as slowed heartbeat and sweating, and you begin to dream actively.
Individuals who go through a particularly intense and stressful period may accordingly experience problems in their sleep. These individuals, who have difficulty falling asleep and maintaining their sleep state, sometimes experience nighttime awakenings and experience interruptions in their REM sleep. Therefore, the state of dreaming in waking life may occur, which is actually like a physiological compensation.
Dreaming while awake and hallucinations
Hallucinations can be confused with dreaming while awake, as they’re pretty similar. However, people are mostly aware of their surroundings while hallucinating; people who dream while awake are more like in a dream state. So in that respect, dreaming while awake is closer to sleepwalking—maybe.
Some reasons for hallucinations and dreaming while awake may overlap, but hallucinations are more often explained by mental health conditions.
If an individual has persistent hallucinations, it would be good to get support from a professional on the subject. Dreaming while awake is a subject that studies in sleep laboratories. Why do people see these dreams, can you have dreams while awake, how do they experience them, and if they see these dreams in a laboratory environment, what kind of change happens in their brains is followed, and the reasons are investigated.
Keeping a Dream Journal
Dream interpretations are often associated with your day-to-day life experiences, memories, and even things that we are not consciously aware of during the day. Dreambook helps you keep a dream journal and enables you to take a step towards understanding the causes and meaning of your dreams. In this way, you can make progress on the following.
- Removing ambiguities by making sense of experiences
- Make inferences by looking at these notes about what you need support on
- Noticing dreams you have had often, thinking about why you see them too much
- When getting help from a professional, share these notes with him, and move forward more healthily
- Be able to start and maintain it well when making decisions to improve your sleep health