hypnic jerk
8:58:37 2022-09-23 5984

Why do we feel as if we are falling during sleep?

Has it ever happened to you that you were about to fall into a deep sleep and then suddenly felt like you were falling and your body was shaking from the shock?

What happened to you is called (hypnic jerk).

Hypnic jerks—involuntary twitches or jolts which occur during the night—can affect people in different ways. Many people will sleep right through them, but for others, they are vigorous enough to wake them up.

Although there is no definite explanation for what causes hypnic jerks, people are more likely to suffer from them when they’re sleep deprived or anxious, or when they do sleep-impairing habits before going to bed, like drinking caffeine or doing exercise close to bedtime, says James Wilson, a U.K.-based sleep behavior and sleep environment expert. “For people who suffer from hypnic jerks, it’s awful,” he adds. “They worry about it before they go to bed, which makes it worse.”

“The complexity of going to sleep and waking up is incredible, and sometimes—particularly when we are sleep deprived—our brain doesn’t shut down normally, which means we get this sort of jerking movement when we’re in a light sleep,” says Wilson. Often, he adds, the brain tries to make sense of it, “which is when we imagine ourselves falling off the sidewalk, a cliff or in a hole.”

The reason why some people experience the twitches at such a predictable time is due to their circadian rhythm, or body clock, Wilson says. “Normally when we go to sleep, about half an hour later we go into a deep stage of sleep during which we wouldn’t get these hypnic jerks,” he says. “If someone is sleep deprived, as they go through the process of falling asleep, the brain will get stuck at the same point in time. Usually if we can help people address their sleep deprivation, the instances decrease or disappear altogether.”

Forgive Others   2025-07-23
Reality Of Islam

Patience in Islamic Codices

11:28:24   2025-08-02  

The Fields of Patience

11:22:10   2025-07-30  

Patience Against Sin

10:34:41   2025-07-23  

A Mathematical Approach to the Quran

10:52:33   2024-02-16  

mediation

2:36:46   2023-06-04  

what Allah hates the most

5:1:47   2023-06-01  

allahs fort

11:41:7   2023-05-30  

striving for success

2:35:47   2023-06-04  

Imam Ali Describes the Holy Quran

5:0:38   2023-06-01  

livelihood

11:40:13   2023-05-30  

silence about wisdom

3:36:19   2023-05-29  

Gold remains perfectly solid wh

read more

MOST VIEWS

Importance of Media

9:3:43   2018-11-05

Illuminations

allah timing

6:14:3   2023-01-18

a wisdom

8:4:21   2022-01-08

apologize when you are wrong

7:6:7   2022-03-21

use you time well

4:26:43   2022-02-21

bahlool & a businessman

8:21:9   2018-06-21

people in need

4:25:57   2023-02-11

education importance

7:26:19   2022-04-08



IMmORTAL Words
LATEST Just One Diet Soda a Day May Raise Your Type 2 Diabetes Risk by 38% Gold Does Something Unexpected When Superheated Past Its Melting Point Scientists Found a Mysterious Barrier in The Ocean That Jellyfish Will Not Cross Take Responsibility for Your Choices Interpretation of Sura Hud - Verses 108-110 Patience in Islamic Codices Study Reveals the Shocking Amount of Plastic We Breathe in Every Day Third Phase of AI Is Here. Here is How Agents May Impact Our Lives. Yellowstone Aspen Forests Are Already Responding to The Return of Wolves The Key to Success in Your Work and Life The Fields of Patience Interpretation of Sura Hud - Verses 105-107