Last Updated on 2016-05-19 , 1:54 pm
Sometimes, when you are in the middle of a good sleep, you suddenly feel like you’re free-falling and jerk awake. Then, you take a look at the clock. If the time is just a few minutes before your alarm rings, you silently curse and swear at whatever made you lose that few precious minutes of sleep. This involuntary bodily reaction is called the hypnic jerk.
Don’t worry, you are not the only one. In fact, many other people have it too and it has been estimated that around 70% of people experience hypnic jerks at some point in their lives. Many reasons are attributed to it, such as anxiety, overdose of caffeine or simply just being very tired.
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There are several theories associated with why the body is reacting so suddenly, but one of the more interesting ones is this: sometimes your brain confuses relaxation with falling. So as you are falling asleep, you are actually relaxing but your brain thinks that you are falling and hence, send signals to your body to straighten up in reaction.
Another related theory also has something to do with ancient times as Man. Since beds weren’t invented yet in the past, humans used to sleep more or less upright on trees. Therefore, our brain may have mistaken the relaxation for falling out of a tree, and wake you up so that you can react in time!
Although hypnic jerks are not dangerous, they can affect our health. According to a clinical coordinator, some people might become worried about jerking awake while sleeping. The more anxious and tired they are, the more likely they are to jerk awake. The more they jerk awake, the more sleep they lose, and the vicious cycle repeats itself.
So if you find yourself losing sleep over this, remember to go consult a doctor!
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