What does it mean to DREAM that YOU CANNOT SPEAK

Most of us are probably familiar with the assumption that every night we sleep we are immersed in our dream world. Knowing that every day we dream, but that we cannot remember the elements in dreams, produces uncertainty. We are curious about everything that can navigate in our unconscious, but that we cannot articulate it without these visual elements present, which even in their amorphous and confused presentation carry signifiers to the underlying way, which can operate as associations and per se guarantee a reliable interpretation by means of techniques, especially that of the psychoanalysis.

Have you dreamed that you cannot speak and want to know the meaning of this dream? Have you dreamed that you ask for help and your voice does not come out? That you can't speak or move? In this Psychology-Online article we explain what does it mean to dream that you cannot speak.

Index

1. What does it mean to dream that I cannot speak and move
2. To dream that I ask for help and my voice does not come out
3. Causes of sleep paralysis
4. How to avoid sleep paralysis

The waking up and not being able to move a single muscle (atony) or letting out a single cry, and sometimes noticing dark presences near us or experiencing sensations of pressure in the chest (as if difficult to breathe), it is a very common experience and there is also a neurological explanation for this type of experience, it is known as sleep paralysis, one of the variants of parasomnia.

When we are in the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase of our sleep, our brain consciousness is very active and it is precisely this moment that we begin to dream. At this moment two neurotransmitters come into play: Glycine and GABA, their function is to work together to stop the movement of most of our muscles and thus prevent us from trying to represent dreams and hurting ourselves in the process. What happens in a sleep paralysis the thing is our mind wakes up but our body doesn't. As our muscles continue to be paralyzed by these two neurotransmitters, we will not be able to move or make any sound, and sometimes they can arise hallucinations during these types of episodes (known as hypnopompic hallucinations, when they occur before awakening and hypnagogic when they occur before the onset of sleep). These cases often occur due to isolated events caused by stress, lack of sleep or the well-known Jet Lag, so sleeping properly (poor sleep hygiene) can contribute to the disappearance of this trouble.

However, they can occur very frequently in people with some type of diagnosis of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or narcolepsy.

We understand then that sleep paralysis occurs when the dreamer wakes up at the wrong time (the REM sleep period not finished yet) and, as a result, the muscles are still asleep, including the pectoral muscles - except for the diaphragm - this being the reason why the dreamer has difficulty breathing or you feel and see that something heavy is resting on his chest.

Another detail about these dreams or sleep paralysis is the inability to ask for help, and this makes perfect sense since the muscles that control the mouth don't work eitherFor this reason, when you try to ask for help, it turns out that you cannot pronounce a single word.

Even, as detailed above, nightmares can occur that have a hallucinatory characteristic (shadows, people ...) of which you can not run away, or scream to ask for help. This occurs because a nightmare is occurring while partially awake, the eyes open but the The rest of the muscles do not work and for this reason we can only see the environment but not move any part of the Body.

Some people report that part of the attempt to ask for help, they try to move their fingers, head or feet either to run or fight or just to wake up himself or the one next to him our. There are also occasions in which the dreamer refers that he has only been able to wake up from these experiences dreamlike if something happens to you like hurting yourself or being attacked (hanged, suffocated or being lacerated by some object stinging).

This experience can be even more unpleasant because the subject also exhibits false arousals, that is, waking up from sleep repeatedly. Although he has already been injured (which functions as a wake-up totem), the subject reports that he tries to get out of bed again and he can not movenor ask for help.

Why do you give sleep paralysis? What can cause sleep paralysis? Here we share some of the most common causes of sleep paralysis:

• Sleep deprivation.
• Chronic lack of sleep
• Altered sleep patterns.
• Chronic stress.
• Heavy or sugary meals before going to bed.
• Some say that the cause can be very simple, such as sleeping on the back.
• Mental disorders.
• Consumption of some recreational and pharmacological substances (tricyclic antidepressants, SSRIs, beta blockers).
• Narcolepsy, where there is a deficit or alteration of hypocretin (a hormone that helps the body stay alert and regulate the sleep-wake cycle).

Here are some tips that you can follow to avoid the experiences of sleep paralysis that can become unpleasant:

1. Sleep the amount of enough hours (7 to 8 hours per day). Here you will find 15 tips for a good night's sleep.
2. Try to establish a schedule to go to bed every day.
3. To sleep on your side or face down.
4. Avoid very strong meals and in large quantities at night. Namely, dine light.
5. Avoid the consumption of caffeine and alcohol.
6. Practice meditation for at least 5 minutes can help you relax and reduce anxiety symptoms that can cause nightmares. In this article you can find meditation techniques for beginners.
7. If there are mental pathologies, it is recommended that you go to a therapist.
8. Seek the sleep hygiene.
9. Do not use devices mobile phones for at least an hour before bedtime.
10. Avoid watching videos that may cause afraid.

The video below can help you relax.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What does it mean to dream that you cannot speak, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

• Montserrat, J. M., & Santamaría, J. (2007). Sleep disorders. In Health Book of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and the BBVA Foundation (pp. 467-476). BBVA Foundation.
• Roballo Ros, F. (2016). Sleep paralysis: unmasking the ghost, holistic and psychological exploration.