So this is a serious issue I have with during a nightmare and waking up blind afterwards. So, say I am having a nightmare where I am about to get eaten by hungry lions or something. It's like I actually know i'm just dreaming and I try to wake myself up within my dream. What is so weird is that I can feel my eyelids opening in the dream but I can't keep them open and I zoom right back into the dream. When I eventually do wake up, I feel like there is this thick blanket of heat and darkness over me and for a whole minute i'm blind, can't see anything but I can still move my arms and legs. Please let me know what this is if you can diagnose me.
I find that if I have a nightmare like that and I wake during the nightmare, it is best to try and break the sequence. If I just turn over, the nightmare resumes. Not fun! So I get up, look at my smartphone, switch on computer, or do something which starts a new train of thought
This is classic sleep paralysis (SP). I get that you say you don't feel as if you're paralysed, but you actually are. Being unable to keep your eyes open is what gives that away, and especially the feeling of being sucked back into it.
I've had SP for 50 years now. I'm also a former neuro nur se so know quite a lot about it from both sides.
The feeling of being able to move your arms and legs is a form of hallucination. It's a proprioceptive hallucination, proprioception being the sense that allows us to be aware of the position of our limbs at all times, even when we can't see them - when we're awake, that is. SP can cause hallucinations of all the senses, including this one, giving rise to the feeling that you're moving about when you're not. I get this too. In my case it sometimes takes the form of my legs floating up over my head. If I concentrate hard in this state I can feel both sets of limbs - the "dream" arms and legs floating or thrashing around, and the real ones, that feel heavy as lead and completely paralysed.
I don't want to insult your intelligence if you already know about this, but I'll briefly describe the mechanism of SP. We all go through several sleep cycles each night, with each cycle consisting of a period of non-dreaming sleep and a period of REM, or dreaming, sleep. REM stands for the rapid, side-to-side eye movements that can be seen under someone's closed eyelids during this phase.
During REM sleep the brain secretes a chemical that paralyses all the voluntary muscles of the body, to stop us jumping up and acting out our dreams. It doesn't, however, paralyse the muscles that keep us alive, e.g. the heart, the diaphragm (controlling breathing), the muscles that control automatic swallowing etc. In some individuals this process gets out of sync, and the brain carries on secreting the chemical for about a minute after we wake up or, more rarely, starts before we fall asleep. This connection with REM sleep explains why it always happens when you're coming out of a nightmare. I get exactly the same thing.
Most people will have one or two episodes in their lifetime, but in something like 5% of the population it happens regularly. Around half of this group experience hallucinations during the period of paralysis, affecting any of their senses, including proprioception. These are nothing to do with the hallucinations of schizophrenia or any other mental illness. SP isn't a mental illness, or any other kind of illness. It's just a slight variation on the norm that some of us have. It's quite strongly hereditary, so it might be worth enquiring around your family, though it has to start somewhere of course. My father and several members of his family had it too.
So what do you do about it? Well, the first thing is to try not to panic during episodes. Easier said than done, I know, but panic will make it worse. Poster alanatcroydon also has a good tip: fight against the urge to go back to sleep at the end of an attack. Make yourself sit up, maybe take a drink of water, before going back to sleep. I wouldn't, however, advise checking your phone as phone use can act as a trigger for SP attacks in some people.
The best approach is to try and identify what triggers the episodes in your case. You can then avoid your triggers as far as possible, which will reduce the frequency of attacks. For me, the number-one trigger is getting too warm in bed. That's guaranteed to produce a nightmare, followed by an SP attack. Other common triggers are sleeping too much (which causes you to spend more time in the REM phase) or, paradoxically, getting overtired. Some people find they're triggered by certain foods or drinks taken too late in the evening, and smoking weed too late in the day can be a surefire trigger for people who have SP. Sleeping too close to overhead power cables, a wifi router or even your phone can also be a trigger. This may seem surprising, but don't forget the brain functions via its own electrical impulses, which can be disrupted by external sources. And of course, stress and anxiety - especially anxiety about the attacks - can provoke more frequent attacks.
This is just a brief overview of possible triggers. There are many others, and you need to discover your own. The main thing to hold in mind is that there's nothing wrong with you, and nothing bad is going to happen as a result of your SP episodes. I started having them in the run-up to my final exams 50 years ago, and still have them today, and I'm still here! However, once I figured out what was triggering them they happened a lot less often. The good news is that SP tends to decline as you get older too.
I suspect you're still quite young, as SP most frequently starts between the ages of 15 and 25. It may be that this is just a brief phase you're going through, but it's likely that you'll continue having SP for life. However, you can get used to anything once you understand it and learn to manage it.
If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to post them here or send me a private message. PMs via this site don't expose the email address of either party or carry viruses.
When I ask the internet something, that's the answer I am looking for! You are correct, I am 16 years old. Thanks so much for the reply I appreciate it!