Shockingly Weird Things That People Can Do In Their Sleep

Sleep time, the one thing many of us are looking forward to returning to the second we leave the safe and comfy cocoon we call a bed. And there is a reason why we are so attached to our sleeping; during it, we do not only enjoy peace and quiet, but we also power down and allow our body and brain to recharge and gain energy.

While sleeping is all nice as we get to pull away from the craziness of the world and enjoy our peace, the truth is, the craziness does not stop, the contrary, we are just not aware of it. A lot is going on while we are sleeping; and by a lot, we mean a lot of weird stuff we do in our sleep!

Have you ever wondered what happened when you wake up only to find your partner giving you a disgruntled stare, or slightly upset, maybe even shocked or concerned look? Or perhaps it was their laughter at something you did in your sleep the thing that woke you up?

In these moments, we all wonder what did we do?

What happens when we fall asleep, and even more importantly, what weird things do we do when we fall asleep? Today we will take a deep dive into the weird things we do while sleeping, so buckle up, it is gonna be an equally weird and fascinating ride!

What happens when we fall asleep?

“When we fall asleep, where do we go?” – well, as much as we would like to discuss this album, let’s move on to the real processes our body experiences when we fall asleep:

 Our brain sorts out and processes all the new information it has gathered throughout the day and gets rid of toxic waste;

 Our nerve cells communicate and reorganize to support the normal functioning of our brains;

 Numerous hormones like melatonin which is released by the pineal gland, flood our body;

 Our body restores energy and our immune system releases inflammation-fighting

cytokines to repairs the cells.

 We go through several sleep cycles: wake, light sleep, deep sleep, REM, and these repeat; during a night of ideal night sleep, our body can go through four or five 90-minutes cycles of different phases of sleep and move sequentially through each of them;

As you can see, our body and brain are quite busy while we sleep, doing all the work in the background. But while that is happening on the inside, a lot of other things can happen on the outside as well:

Weird things we do in our sleep

1. Sleep talking, arguing, even swearing

Albeit it may be rare in adults and more common among children, sleep talking or somniloquy is still one of the most common things we do in our sleep. Interestingly enough, a recent French study which was investigating what people say during their sleep talk has discovered that in 10% of the cases, sleep talking was rich in swear words, arguing, and similar negative context, which may explain the eye roll your partner gives you when they wake you up for talking in your sleep!

2. Sleep groaning and moaning

Sleep groaning or moaning, also known as cattathernia are just another set of weird sounds people make during their sleep. While the cause of it is unknown in most cases, this condition is more common than some of the others mentioned here, and often can be accompanied by snoring or sleep talking.

3. Sleep sex

Sleep sex, or the official name for this sleep disorder – sexsomnia is something you may have heard occasionally on the news used as someone’s defense for being accused of rape and called bs because it seemed all too weird. However, this condition does exist and usually is rare; it can be triggered by sleep deprivation, alcohol, or even some medications, and the person doing it is not aware of doing it and in most cases, doesn’t remember a thing the next morning.

4. Hypnic jerk

A hypnic jerk is the official name of that state where you feel like you are falling off a ledge and suddenly you are fully awake. Dr.Kansagra-the sleep health expert from Mattress Firm, describes them as “short, involuntary muscle jerks or twitches that occur right as you are falling asleep.” This state is pretty common as apparently, “70% of people experience them occasionally”. You should

also know that hypnic jerk is not a disorder, but rather it is considered to be a “normal variation of sleep as long as it doesn't lead to insomnia," – according to DR. Kansagra.

5. Sleepwalking, driving

Probably the second thing that comes to mind when someone says weird thing done in sleep, right after sleep talking is sleepwalking. Some people are known to wake up and go for a walk in the garden, or some may even drive their car, then return to bed and the next morning does not remember a thing. Unfortunately, the number of cases has increased due to the increased use of sleep aid medications; that is why FDA now requires all sleep aid drugs to come with warning labels regarding these types of side-effects from using the sleep aid drugs.

6. Dream within a dream

It may sound like the plot of some sci-fi movie, this condition is quite real and known as “false awakening”; during this state, the person feels like they have awakened from a dream, turned off their alarm, got out of bed, and then things start to get weird with mirrors not showing reflection, objects moving around or the person feels like they are floating – anything goes. And then they wake up to find themselves still in bed in the “real” reality. This false awakening is quite real and is one of the more common issues people report but despite being quite weird, it is not that scary as it can easily be treated with few cognitive practices.

After all, where do you think the inspiration comes from for some of these movies?

7. Sleep eating

While many of us have pretended to not know where that last piece of chocolate cake disappeared the next morning, some people genuinely do not know, even though they are the ones who ate it! A nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder is a disorder, much similar to sleepwalking as it also occurs because of the brain being in two different sleep stages (deep sleep and awake) at the same

time; during it, the person will wake up, raid the fridge, eat that last piece of cake and do not hold any memory of their “horrific crime” the next morning!

8. Acting out dreams

Some people may act on their dreams while asleep, and even though it may sound like nothing serious, it is a potentially life-threatening issue; it is a REM disorder, and while it may not be dangerous if you are acting out your dream of dancing on the stage, and you dance around your house, it can be more dangerous if your dream is more serious, or includes usage of some equipment, like baking cookies in the oven or driving a race-car.

9. Sleep texting

Probably one of the newest cases people reported as sleep issue, sleep texting is a new phenomenon where a person using various media outlets sends text messages to their loved ones, exes, friends and does not recall doing so in the morning. It is especially common among adolescents, and while specialists have declared it as a new feature in terms of sleeping disorders, still there are no scientific studies conducted regarding this issue and because of it, it is not listed in textbooks covering sleep disorders.

10. Temporal paralysis

Probably the favorite thing to be portrayed by horror movies, sleep paralysis unfortunately is a real condition that some people experience. It occurs when the person feels like they are awake but cannot move; oftentimes it is accompanied by intense feelings of fear or in some cases even hallucinations which just adds to the horrible feeling of dread that this condition puts people through. This happens when your brain wakes in the middle of a REM sleep cycle, but your body still hasn’t returned to its functioning. It is probably one of the most terrifying, weird things a person can experience during their sleep.

11. Committing murder

Homicidal sleepwalking or also known as homicidal somnambulism or sleepwalking murder, albeit rare with only 65 reported cases in the literature up to the 2005 year, is one of the weirdest things people have done in their sleep; it is so weird and at the same time, intriguing that people have made a Wikipedia page for it. And if you look at the cases, you will find them to be incredibly erratic and odd, from randomly strangling a local woman (the Boshears case), to driving 20 km to your in- laws and bludgeoning mother-in-law with a tire iron!

The majority of these cases, shockingly weird as they may be, are actually pretty rare. However, if you are experiencing any sleep issues and wonder what happens in your sleep, you should talk to a sleep health expert.