You have also faced such situations at some point in your life. Suppose you are sleeping. Sleep is just about to deepen, and right at that moment, there's an intense jolt. It felt as if someone was pushing you off the bed. Or you were falling into the void from some high place. The next moment, your sleep broke, and you saw that you were right where you were supposed to be. There was not the slightest change in location. So were you having some kind of nightmare?
Mayro Figura, an anaesthetist working at a hospital in California, says this type of problem is called 'hypnic jerk' in medical terminology. Just before sleep deepens, there is a sudden contraction in the body's muscles. This is why the body experiences such jolts. A research paper published in the 'Sleep Medicine' journal states that 60 to 70 per cent of the world's total population has experienced 'hypnic jerks' at some time or another.
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Mayro says that the brain sometimes cannot understand the transition process from the waking state or consciousness to the realm of sleep, that is, to the subconscious. When sleep comes, the body's muscles gradually become relaxed. But the brain thinks that perhaps you are losing consciousness or falling from some high place. Signals come from the brain to regain consciousness or to steady yourself before falling. Right then, such jolts occur. This is a very common occurrence.
'Hypnic jerks' can happen at any age. Drinking excessive coffee or when mental stress increases, such jolts often occur in the body during sleep. Again, many people face this type of problem when there is a sleep deficit.
