What's this condition called ?

Hello,

Although this is my first post, I've actually known this website for 10 years but I don't remember any details of my old account.

I'm interested into reading more about this condition that I'm having, searching the internet yielded a lot of varied explanations, and since this is about me, I thought I'd discuss my matter with other people.

I dream. I dream a lot. I have three alarms every morning before going to work: 8,9,10 am (so I can wake up more easily). I remember some of my dreams before 8AM and almost every dream I'm having between 8-9 and 9-10. Even if I go back to bed, in those ~20 mins of sleep. I still dream.

In fact this is gone so far that I start dreaming in the first 30 minutes of putting myself to sleep AT NIGHT! (the story: put myself to sleep at around 1.40AM, roommate entered the apartment at around 2.15AM waking me up and remembering I've been having a dream (something trivial, not very fun or exciting)) . I thought dreams only occur in REM sleep. Can REM sleep start so early ? Am I dreaming outside REM sleep ?

Some details about my sleep behavior:

• I never felt tired from waking up from a night's sleep
• I sleep a lot. I can wake up easily, but the motivation and mental state of my mind makes me wanna doze and stay in bed
• And when I do doze, I fall asleep in like 1-2 minutes.
• I'm only feeling like I've had enough sleep when I sleep at least 10-11 hours (otherwise I'll be sleepy until I get out of bed). Important: I dont' feel tired at all waking up, so I don't think it's an issue of not having enough rest
• I don't take naps midday (don't feel like I need them either). But if I'm to lay in bed and close my eyes, I'll fall asleep in 15-20 mins.

Some details about my dreams

• I simply love my dreams, they make me feel so much better. Basically it gives me the stuff I miss in real life.
• I mostly dream social/affective contexts, the ones that I lack in real life.
• I also have a lot of action packed and horror sci-fi dreams. Video game-like dreams, thriller movies-like dreams. Even if some of them makes my heart pump like crazy, I still kinda like them, It gives me a certain satisfaction which I'm not having in real life
• Almost anything I think about or imagine it carries into the dream (when waking up in the morning, after the initial night sleep)

What I think it's happening with my mind: I have a lot of "missing" things in my life, especially in a particular part of life. I've read somewhere that the brains tries to replace this void, negative energies, etc with positive emotions; eliminate reactivity towards negative emotions. It seems like I've kinda fallen real deep into this as I keep having a ton of dreams and also trouble getting out of bed.

Read the top answer to this question: quora.com / Does-dreaming-when-napping-mean-Im-not-getting-enough-sleep-at-night . It might be right because I feel much better every time I wake up (mood-wise) having dreams.

Is there named condition in which the brain tries to sleep as much as possible in order to dream and get rid of negative emotions and replace the void in your real life with the nice things you're having in dreams ?

Maybe you have depression or general sadness in waking life which you relieve with escapism? There's nothing wrong with this. You can dream outside of REM, by the way.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dolphin

Maybe you have depression or general sadness in waking life which you relieve with escapism? There's nothing wrong with this. You can dream outside of REM, by the way.

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I do, but it's long buried. I managed to convert my depression into anger 2.5 years ago. I know you dream outside REM but those dreams shouldn't be so vivid and "awesome" and mostly hard to remember. I just had another right now (a nice one), i put myself to sleep from 9 PM and woke up at 10.30PM. I only had the "good nap" after about 40-60 mins of putting myself into bed.

I asked on this forum hoping I could read more about this thing the brain's doing with your sleep & dreams.

Even the most astute and well-trained individual could not provide you with a definitive diagnosis over the internet, and certainly not with the paucity of information you could provide, the vast majority of which may be inaccurately related, subjective, and provides no objective information such as would be garnered via a physical examination, detailed medical and surgical history, blood work results, etc., etc.

If you have legitimate concerns as regards your mental or physical well-being, seek out an appropriately trained medical professional in your locale. I recommend you see your primary care physician, give him or her a frank description of your concerns and symptoms, and get a referral to the appropriate specialist.

Stop asking us. We don't know, are not qualified to say, cannot treat you, and even if we were inclined to risk advising you (which would be immoral and wrong) from 1,000 miles away, the chance of a diagnosis being correct under these circumstances is less than 1/10 of 1%.

Hi there, perhaps it might be worthwhile reading "The Twenty-four Hour Mind" by Rosalind D. Cartwright. The main theory it offers is that the brain dreams to attempt to resolve our emotional issues. Have a look at this link for a brief overview of the book.