Why do you feel that you fall when you fall asleep?

This time should be the most enjoyable in the day. You go to bed, you feel comfortable and comfortable, you feel like you start to fall asleep ... And then suddenly you feel a shocking feeling, as if you start to fall. We experience this feeling when we accidentally skip one step on the stairs, and the leg remains in the air longer than expected. Well, that's pretty unpleasant.

This phenomenon, which you experience before going to sleep, is known as hypnotic twitching, and sometimes it can be accompanied by a visual hallucination. You may also have heard other names, such as "beginning of sleep", "hypnagogic jerk" or "myoclonic jerk". But for the sake of common sense, we will adhere to the previous title.

What is this from an evolutionary point of view?

Hypnotic twitching occurs when the muscles (usually in the legs, although this may be all over the body) begin to involuntarily and quickly shrink. This condition is similar to a spasm. Although its causes are not yet fully understood, the evolutionary view suggests that it serves two important interrelated functions, and the first of these is still relevant today.

First, such a sudden awakening allows a person to check the environment in which he is, and make sure that she is really safe for sleep. In this case, a person experiences a condition similar to fright. After all, you can really be in an insecure place.

Another function proposed by evolution is that it allows us (or at least our early ancestors) to check the stability of our body's position before falling asleep, especially if they have fallen asleep on a tree. This jerk allows you to test the "soil under your feet" before the body becomes helpless.

The reason is in physiology?

Another basic theory suggests that hypnotic twitching is just a symptom of our active physiological system that is susceptible to sleep. This is a transition from activity and awareness to a state of relaxation and possible bodily paralysis. In essence, hypnotic twitching can be a sign of a possible switch between the reticular system of the brain (which uses excitation of neurotransmitters to maintain wakefulness) and the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (which uses inhibitory neurotransmitters to reduce wakefulness and bring sleep closer).

When the condition worsens

Although in most cases hypnotic twitching is normal and natural, this experience can be quite exciting or frightening. In extreme cases - in terms of frequency, speed or force of "fall" - this phenomenon can cause people to constantly wake up. As a result, the normal process of falling asleep, which in the long term leads to the onset of insomnia, is disrupted.

Because hypnotic twitching is associated with movement, anything that keeps this system active at night increases your chances of having insomnia.

What can cause a deterioration?

It must be remembered that caffeine and other stimulants, vigorous exercise in the evening, as well as a high level of stress and anxiety are associated with an increase in the frequency of spontaneous hypnotic twitching. This means that they should be avoided whenever possible. Also the frequency of this phenomenon increases, when you feel tired or overworked, you have not enough sleep or an unstable sleep schedule. In this case, you must adhere to the correct schedule of sleep and wakefulness.

In addition, it has been suggested, although it has not been proven that the lack of calcium, magnesium and iron can also increase the chance of experiencing hypnotic twitching. Also, scientists said that this condition can be caused by sensory stimulation during the period of falling asleep. This means that if your bedroom is cool, dark and quiet, you can reduce the frequency and intensity of hypnotic twitching.

In fact, there are very few studies on this topic, since this phenomenon is often regarded as normal. Therefore it is rather difficult to guess what its proper "treatment" should be. Nevertheless, scientists know that with age, the frequency of such manifestations is reduced in a natural way. The main question that should be considered: is hypnotic twitching of the problem with sleep in you or close people? If this is so, then it's time to turn to specialists. The problem is that there are a number of sleep disorders, such as apnea, which have similar symptoms.