Falling off a cliff sounds like it is scary, although feeling like you’re falling off a cliff while you’re really safe in bed is also terrifying. Sixty to seventy people have experienced these falls, called hypnic jerks, yet we don’t exactly know why they occur.
Part of the reason why research on this subject is so difficult is because the jerks are so hard to predict. Scientists don’t know what causes them or when they will occur. Therefore, the theories are almost all untested. However, scientists do know that they are myoclonus twitches that occur as we fall asleep.
Some scientists believe that the hypnic jerks are associated with stress and anxiety as well as irregular or unusual sleep schedules. This hypothesis sounds like it makes sense, but when I apply it to my life it just doesn’t fit. There have been many, many times when I have been extremely anxious and stressed without experiencing it.
Another theory is that the jerks happen because when we fall asleep, we go through mini-REM stages of sleep. During REM, our heart rates, breathing, and nervous system act erratically and this huge change in action as compared to the relaxing feeling of falling asleep could cause the hypnic jerks. I think that this is a more likely theory. In order for me to sleep, I need to relax my body completely and if my body is unconsciously engaging in these behaviors that amp it up, it makes sense that we would experience these.
A final theory comes from an evolutionary perspective. It says that these jerks are an instinct from our primate days. The body thinks that instead of relaxing to sleep, we are falling, which causes the muscles to quickly contract. To me, this sounds like a very odd instinct for humans or primates to adapt, because I can’t imagine it being that huge of an issue. More than that, I don’t know how our bodies are confusing falling with relaxation, since I can’t remember the last time I was really relaxed during freefall.
Most of this evidence is theoretical, since it would be almost impossible to do an experimental study on these because they are unpredictable and we have no way to cause these jerks. Therefore, the evidence will continue to remain correlational.
http://www.livescience.com/39225-why-people-twitch-falling-asleep.html
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/why-do-we-twitch-were-falling-asleep-785736
I have never experienced a hypnic jerk and would probably be quite terrified if I did. I remember learning about these in my high school psychology class and at least half of my class said they experienced them in their sleep. I think it’s kind of scary that our body things for some reason that we are falling even when we are laying on a completely flat surface. I always hated when people would lean back in their chairs with the front off the group since I was terrified they would fall so I am assuming that is what these jerks feel like. Our mind is truly weird in our sleep with what we dream sometimes and making us believe we are falling!
This article is very relatable because I have experienced these jerks, and to make matters worse, I am on the top bunk. I am a dancer, and every time I have these jerks I imagine myself falling off of a stage. Although they never result in me falling off of the bed, I always end up with an increased heart rate and a woken up roommate. I am curious if there is anything one can do to prevent these jerks from happening, and to my surprise I found several cures.
1. Dont exercise right before bed
2. Make sure you are not lacking in magnesium, calcium or iron
3. Listen to relaxing music before you fall asleep
I also learned that around 70 percent of Americans experience these jerks, so I wonder if there is a correlation with America and these hypnic jerks?
http://sleeping-disorders-help.blogspot.com/2009/06/cures-for-hypnic-jerks.html
I experience these several times a week, and they are harmless although very annoying. They generally take place right before I fall asleep. For me, I think the jerk is the result of skateboarding for the much of my life. When I experience the jerk, the sensation is identical to what it feels like to fall off the board. It is my theory that the brain conjures up some kind of muscle memory reaction before shutting down and going to sleep at night. At least this is my hypothesis.
I have definitely experienced a hypnic jerk while attempting to fall asleep. I would always experience a dream where I’m falling and right before I hit the ground I would wake up. This also reminds me of the movie Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio. In this movie they would put themselves asleep to travel into a different “realm” and when they were coming back to real life they would experience the “kick.” Because I love Leonardo DiCaprio and Inception, I decided to look into it more. In the article, Sleeping Disorders: Cures for Hypnic Jerks, it talks about ways to eliminate this bad habit. Some examples are, watching what you eat before you go to sleep, not practicing heavy exercise before going to sleep, listening to a relaxation CD, and smoking and drinking can cause more frequent jerks also.
I can see how the evolutionary perspective could make sense. As Wikipedia puts it, we jerk in response to relaxation because it may cause us to fall out of a tree. The jerk causes us to wake up and change position.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk
The problem with that is that humans haven’t slept in trees for hundreds of years, so I would think that that instinct would be gone by now.