Many people have experienced the strange feeling of falling while sleeping and then suddenly waking up. Some people dream that they are falling, others that something hit them etc.
If you are wondering why this happens we are going to explain it to you in the following article.
Scientists have named this phenomena “hypnic jerk”. It is a feeling similar to falling that some people experience differently for example as if someone is choking them while they are sleeping.
Caffeine and tobacco could be causing you to experience the “hypnic jerk” more often so try to avoid them. It can also happen if you don’t sleep enough, have irregular sleeping patterns or if you are taking drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall.
The hypnic jerk happens when we dream that we are falling. If you are too tired, the brain thinks that the body systems are failing rather than falling asleep so it shocks the body to wake up.
The hypnic jerk is explained as something the brain does to make wake up quickly by making us dream scary things such as falling.