Is there a name for...

[shiney mew]

...when you're falling asleep and then something happens in your dream that jolts you awake and it feels like it really happened? Because just now, I was woken up by what seemed like something small punching me on the shoulder (it didn't hurt, but I actually felt a pressure on my shoulder), and a while back, I dreamed that a bug dove into my eye and then I was woken up by a sharp, sudden pain in my eye that went on for several minutes (but I could still see fine).

[momo]

I get that when I feel like im falling in my dream. you literally feel as though you're falling back in your bed.
i dont know the name of it. but I get what you mean.

[moomooprice]

this is normal and haveing dreams that wake you are is just from a sencsory overload. If you have been stressed or prehaps doing something unsual can cause such sencsory overload. Your mind makes your dreams seam real with such temporary effects as musel pain, head ach, other pain, pralisis, and even blured vision to name a few. Usualy these effects only last a few minest after the dream has ended. Life like dreams show that your brain on a nurolgical leaval is very healthy and your nurons are fireing very well. I never thought i would use my Psy of dreams class but i have used it a lot here on TF.

The type of dream you had is known as a life like dream or a non REM dream and is compleatly normal. why it is called a non REM dream is because frequently happenes when you are not in REM sleep as well as due to the fact if you are in REM sleep it interupt your REM sleep.

you have any where from 50 to 200 dreams a night but most people only remember 1 or 2 a night. you are more likely to remember a dream ifyou are woken up while haveing it. It takes an average person 90 min of sleep to reach the state of sleep where dreams happen. more dreams happen when you just went to bed and when you are about to wake up than any other time during the nite.

Ok i hope this helped answer your question.

[moomooprice]

A falling dream is a REM dream. and it is from your body actualy relaxing from the days stress. this ususaly happens when your body relaxes rapidly.

[Katana]

I have dreams like that all the time.... just as I'm beginning to fall asleep, I'll suddenly be imagining that I'm walking along something -a sidewalk, a dock, a cliff path, whatever, and suddenly my foot will slip off the edge and I'll have that falling feeling and jump out of my skin "landing" back in bed... once I got it dreaming I fell off a horse (toppled off backwards... 'watched' myself do it) and last night, I wasn't even walking along a raised surface... I was just walking and I slipped. (probably due to my thinking about the snow and slippery everything outside, LOL)

[Buteo]

This can be from a number of things...
Physical, psychological/emotional & even spiritual.

Medically, I think I heard it referred to as an MND - Multi-Neural Discharge.
This is commonly just as the conscious mind is "passing-the reins" over to the subconscious. The areas of the brain that deals with threat-responses fire off a random sequence.
Think of it like that screeching, howlin Emergency Broadcast System test ya see on TV every once in a while..."This is only a test of your body's EBS"
Of course, that triggers an emergency reboot of the conscious mind.

Some cultures believe that this is what happens during an unintentional Astral Projection. Your astral self tries to float free, but is snapped back into the phsyical body.

Others think it is your dream form, stumbling over the troubles of the day.

Me, I just hate that feelin....
It's like walking on stairs with a huge double armload of stuff and miscounting the steps.

[WittyCityChick]

Have any of you ever heard of “sleep paralyses”? It’s a sort of sleep phenomenon that is not harmful but scary - it’s the inability to move while completely awake and usually happens when you are either falling asleep or waking up – and usually when you are sleeping on your back. I’ve also known it to be called “psychic paralyses.” I know loads about it because I’ve had it my whole life. As a kid it would be maybe once or twice a year but got increasing worse through high school and college. In my late twenties and now in my thirties, it’s about once or twice a year again. I actually wrote a paper for a psych course while at the university and since I majored in art history, focused on its interpretation through art of various cultures. Wikipedia has a great article now on it (would have made my life much easier if Wikipedia existed 10 years ago!)

I found this fascinating – during my research I found the results of a study of people that have had this experience; one finding was that regardless of their beliefs in religious, spiritual, or mysticism, over 90% of them believed that they were experiencing something paranormal – that‘s how freaky it is! For me it’s always feels like something is trying to come in through my chest and I’m pushing it out – and my eyes are usually open.

Although they are not 100% sure what causes it, it’s believed that it happens because your body is in REM (where “paralyses” is normal) but your mind is awake. When I was a younger it frightened me to death – but after having done research I felt a whole lot better. So if you are bothered by your experience, researching it will make you feel better – there is usually a good explanation… 

[born2budgie]

I broke my old alarm clock by getting startled awake like that lol.

Was just drifting off and then shook awake and booted my alarm clock off my night stand. lol

[Squeakers411]

I hate that feeling!
I have dreams where I'm falling out of nowhere, and I see how a place is...Like, once I was 'falling' but I saw how Christmas would be, what my cousin was doing...But I was falling...And finally when I woke up, I tried getting up but I couldn't move...And when I finally was able to 'push' myself up, I collapsed onto my pillow and couldn't move for another couple seconds....Ugh! I hated it!!

I have random dreams and they make me feel as if my bed is shaking, as if I am falling, running, thinking, anything...I never have 'normal' dreams - LOL! I remeber what I have dreamt though - Normally I can remember more then 5 -but recently I can't..I'm just so tired....

It happens alot more when I'm stressed...Or anxious...
But It's normal for me now, and I can't do anything about it but take deep breaths and wait for it to fade

[Foxjxa]

I get that all the time.... I once fell out of bed because of it - which was hilarious at the time, according to the SO.

:P

[Derick]

I have those dreams where I'm about to sleep and I feel like I'm falling and I react to it by jumping suddenly...
I don't think Benji appreciates it when that happens

[sammit]

i had one of those the other night, i actually full-on closed-fist PUNCHED my SO in the face!! im my dream i was trying to catch something and i was on my stomach at the time, couldnt get my arm out, was afraid of "dropping" the thing and just yanked my arm out from under me.. i remember hitting him because my eyes were open but i know i was asleep at the same time because it seemed all in that foggy mind set.

[Baboo's Momma]

Lori, that sounds horrible! My b/f's mom experienced something like that. Only once though. She said it was like "something" was holding her down, then let go after 10 minutes or so. I would be soo scared! I'm sorry you have to deal with that!

Sam, how'd you SO take it? Swear you were asleep?....LOL

[sammit]

uh.. no i told him the dream i had in the morning because i fell back to sleep after it happened. he kindly reminded me that i had done to my horror. SO took it well because im always doing things like that in my sleep.

[Melza]

i have had sleep paralysis... scary scary stuff! O.O really REALLY creepy! i was woken suddenly as back then i slept in the same room as my younger sister. she had had a night mare and was screaming, which woke me up and she wanted me to turn the light on but i couldnt move.. try that for scary, then try telling yourself that it DID happen the next morning LOL

i have had the sudden jolt of pian aswell and often times the falling sensation!

[WittyCityChick]

Yup...it is scary, but actually now i find the experience to be really interesting, too. I guess it's not so bad now that I'm not living alone. I lived alone for a 6 years and when it would happen, it would take me hours to get up the nerve to fall back asleep. Some people actually hallucinate during it. I never have - but some doctors attribute the alien abduction experience to actually be a hallucination from severe forms of sleep paralysis...interesting stuff.

[Melza]

i have had it once or twice and both times i think i have hallucinated, atleast a little. i can never remember if it is true the next morning... i dont like it LOL