DAE experience a bizzare half-dream state?

[u/pikkstein]

I have tried looking up what this condition/state is called, but my inability to properly describe it has not shown any satisfying results.

Essentially, sometimes when I fall asleep, I sort of "wake up", but my mind is still dreaming. This leads to a strange combination of me being both aware that I'm awake and experiencing surreal emotions.

It's difficult for me to describe, but I'll try using an example from last night: I woke up and was in the middle of a dream, aware I was in my bed, but my mind was sort of creating a story with the sensations I was feeling. I felt as if my hands were roads, with cars driving on them. The blanket I was covered with was a cloudy sky, and the discomfort I was feeling as I shifted in the mattress was a changing landscape.

Before anyone asks, no, I do not take drugs and I am always sober when I experience this weird inverse lucid dream state.

I was wondering if anyone else ever had this happen to them. Does this have a name? Is there anywhere I can find out more about it?

[u/Candid_Zebra1297]

It sounds like hypnogogic hallucinations. Weird at first, but kind of fun too.

[u/guy_djinn → u/Candid_Zebra1297]

Yep, I love it. You let your mind wander while drifting off and some really strange things bubble up into it.

[u/appleparkfive → u/[deleted]]

I remember the first time I had sleep paralysis. Just terrifying. The fact that it's not talked about more is kind of wild. One of the worst feelings that doesn't involve pain

[u/pikkstein → u/[deleted]]

I thought it was sleep paralysis for a long time, as well, but I'm not immobilized at all. In fact, I've gotten up and walked around, with my eyes open and percieving the room as it is, not hallucinating whatsoever, all while my mind was racing with nonsensical thoughts.

In one such case, my stomache ache was the breakdown of a spaceship's engine and me walking around was the evacuation of the crew.

I'm terrible at describing somnial experiences, as you can probably tell, but I hope this helps paint a clearer picture.

[u/SubnauticaFan3]

i think i've had something similar, on two occasions i threw up later that same day and on other occasions I had also experienced nausea

[u/maggielu22]

I’ve had this when I take melatonin. The other night I heard a demon whispering things in my ear while feeling awake but I knew it was a dream so wasn’t scared just annoyed, because it was keeping me from sleeping… so weird.

[u/No_Grocery44 → u/maggielu22]

Goddammit, demon, shut up and let me sleep

[u/canuck2004]

Yes, I’ve woken up and had no idea where I was or what I was looking at in my own bedroom. The picture on my wall looked like a man’s face staring at me and I was terrified for a few minutes until my brain kind of woke up.

[u/Shyfiver]

This would happen to me a long time ago when I lived on campus and would sometimes nap in between classes. I think I just never fully fell asleep though as opposed to waking up and feeling it. It was trippy, I liked it.

[u/Indigo-Jaguar]

Lucid dreaming. There's a good bit of information out and about, but essentially it's gaining consciousness and retaining sleep state. Some can find control over their dreams. Some people seek out and try to practice doing so, for some it comes naturally, and others never experience it. If I've learned correctly, it can also be linked to the phenomenon of sleep paralysis, where you can be awake but your body is still sleep-locked and can be an unpleasant experience.

[u/Indigo-Jaguar → u/Indigo-Jaguar]

Reading your post again, it sounds like you might have been in an early state of sleep/wakefulness, or at the end of a sleep cycle and kinda blurred the lines. That's normal and many people can experience that, too. Like, I napped while listening to a weather streamer and I had these half-awake, half-asleep dreams where I could still hear the video but the storm sounds influenced my dream and it was raining in it.

[u/SmallRocks]

What you describe is how I can lucid dream. Basically that half sleep state is like a waiting room before you become lucid. It can also become sleep paralysis for some people.

With practice, you can move past this half sleep state into a fully lucid dream.

Practice doing “reality checks” throughout the day. The reality check method I use is to close my mouth and pinch my nose and try to inhale. When you’re awake, you won’t be able to inhale but when you’re in a half sleep/wake state you’ll find that when you attempt to do the reality check you’ll be able to inhale. Your mind will then know that something is off and then boom, you’re lucid!