Sunday, 24 april 2022Dreams are one of the conditions that often occur while sleeping. In this case, dreams usually have a certain storyline with various themes. The story line in dreams can be arranged chronologically and makes sense.
But it is not uncommon for a series of stories in dreams to be unrelated and appear randomly and messy. Some of you certainly often remember the dream that just happened when you woke up. Whether it's a dream that is fun, stressful, sad, and others.
It can be said, this has become a habit of its own which is often done by almost everyone trying to remember the dream stories they have during sleep.
Even so, sometimes when you are remembering a dream that happened you don't find anything. Suddenly you don't remember a single piece of the story that was in the dream. Even when trying hard to remember a dream, it still doesn't get a single memory or memory that comes to mind.
This does sound strange, when you just wake up from a dream but suddenly the memory of the dream just evaporates. Not without reason, it turns out that there are special factors that cause not being able to remember dreams after sleeping. Usually the cause of not being able to remember dreams after waking up is associated with the sleep process that does not reach the REM stage.
Recognizing dreams
Before knowing the cause of not being able to remember dreams after waking up, it is necessary to understand first what is meant by dreams. Dreams are a series of thoughts, images, or sensations that arise in the mind during sleep. This is a brain function that occurs when certain areas of the brain are activated through sequential patterns of electrical and chemical activity.
Usually, dreams that move sequentially like moving pictures in movies are associated with Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. REM is associated with intense activity in the brain. In this case, the brain uses energy and glucose to carry out activities such as when the body is awake. In the REM stage, the muscles that control the eyes are active, such as the diaphragm, which is responsible for breathing. Meanwhile, the other major skeletal muscles of the body are paralyzed during this state. This prevents the occurrence of external dreams or the occurrence of sleep paralysis and REM sleep disturbances.
Normal dream pattern
Before knowing the cause of not being able to remember dreams after waking up, it is also necessary to understand dream patterns that occur under normal circumstances. In general, dreams that occur in REM sleep are characterized by several things, namely an active brain, rapid eye movements, and loss of muscle tone.
REM sleep occurs at intervals throughout the night. The first period of REM may occur from 90 to 120 minutes into the night. If it occurs early, in less than 15 minutes, it could be a sign of narcolepsy.
In this condition, the REM period will occur longer before the morning. So people can experience a period of REM in the first third of the morning. And not infrequently, people wake up in the morning from the last period of REM
The reason we can't remember dreams
After understanding common conditions and dream patterns, there are several factors that can cause you to be unable to remember dreams after waking up. The first reason is that you may be sleeping but experiencing a period of REM. In this case, the consumption of certain drugs can suppress REM sleep. One of them, antidepressant drugs have a strong effect by delaying the onset or reducing the amount of REM sleep. In addition, alcohol can also act as a suppressor of REM sleep.
In addition, sleep disturbances can also affect dream memory. Untreated obstructive sleep apnea can also contribute to REM sleep, because breathing problems occur due to relaxation of the airway muscles.
In addition, poor sleep habits, stress, and psychiatric conditions can also interfere with sleep and affect the memory of dreams.
That's an explanation of our problem that sometimes it's hard to remember our dreams after waking up. Although we remember, but sometimes we can not tell as much detail as possible.
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