Where I was working I overheard two people talking and she says “My husband always jerks before he falls asleep and he kicks me.” I can’t stand that.
So I said “You should get that looked at.” She said "She said "Oh it’s nothing, almost everyone has jerks in their legs and body just before they fall asleep. So I looked it up on the Internet and the SD and found it is quite normal and usually doesn’t mean anything
OK that was on Monday, and this is the FOURTH night in a row, I have woken myself up. Just as I’m falling asleep, my whole body starts with the little jerks, (about three) and I wake up. It’s driving me nuts.
Now I have NEVER noticed this before. I am assuming I’ve always done this and never knew. Now that I’m aware of the process it, wakes me up.
So two questions, anyone else have this? And second, would you call my reaction psychosomatic? Or is there a better term.
Well, there is the term “cyberchondria” (from “cyber” + “(hypo)chondria” to refer to people who research symptoms on the internet and then leap to dire conclusions about their health based on minor symptoms, but that doesn’t quite seem to fit here, although it seems related.
I’ve also heard medical school students will sometimes develop symptoms or feel they’re developing symptoms of the diseases they’re studying about, but I don’t know what the name for that is.
But what you’re experiencing is perfectly normal. It could just be that you’ve never noticed your sleep jerks before, and now you’re just more aware of them. I, for instance, have an ectopic heart beat and have never paid much attention to it before until I came across a web article about it. Now, I’m sometimes all-too-aware, and it annoys the crap out of me, even though the doctor said it’s perfectly normal and my heart tests have all come out clean.
Reminds me of a story I heard: There was once a professor with a very long beard. One day, one of his students asked him, “Professor, do you sleep with your beard under the blankets or over them?”. The professor replied that he wasn’t sure, that he had never really paid attention. A week later, the professor comes in, gives the student a dirty look, and says, “Damn you! Now I can’t sleep with it either way!”.
It’s called med student syndrome. It’s much like what the OP describes in that there’s probably not anything new happening you just notice common symptoms more. The real trick is to not write off real problems with vague symptoms like fatigue as just your imagination. I know someone who was diagnosed with leukemia during med school.
Well I’m pretty sure nothings wrong with me, except now I’m having a heck of a time falling alseep. LOL
But my question is, is the TERM “Psychosomatic” correct? Or is there another word for it?
I was fine BEFORE someone mentioned this, so obviously I was influenced by it. It seemes highly unlikely a problem arose the exact same time as I found out the condition exists.
But “psychosomatic” doesn’t seem correct.
It reminds me of a “Peanuts” comic strip where Linus is looking all funny and Lucy asks why. Linus says “He’s become aware of his tongue.” Then he says something like “I never noticed it but now that I’m aware my tongue exists I wonder what it would be doing if I wasn’t paying attention to it.” Lucy calls him nuts and in the last panel, suddenly becomes aware of her tongue and want to clobber Linus
Yeah, I’d be curious to know if there’s a word for this, too. It’s also like when you learn a new word (at least with me), it seems like all of a sudden it’s appearing everywhere around you, even though it was always there, but you probably didn’t notice it before.
A ‘Myoclonic jerk’ just before sleep is pretty common. When I first noticed it, I was worried it was some neurological tic/problem. Having a name for it - Myoclonic Jerk’ also made me more aware of it happening. Now I relish it - jerk, ah, I’ll be asleep in a moment.
How about ‘hyper-awareness’ for noticing things more once you’ve heard about them.
I had a similar situation when I went shopping for a car. Makes and models of cars rarely interested me before, but as soon as I started car shopping, I suddenly saw that same model on every. single. road.
OK, I’m not helping with the real question as to whether or not there is a term for this. I vaguely remember that we’ve discussed before and there was a word but I’ll be damned if I can remember it now.
I thought the term was “hypnogogic jerk.” The term for the before the sleep thing, not for becoming super aware of something after it’s been given a name. Although there’s probably a word for that, too.
I think what you’re talking about is selective perception, a common cognitive bias. That is, you have always had the jerks, you’re just now noticing them because you just now started looking for them. Selective perception - Wikipedia
And, for what it’s worth, my legs twitch too (just once, though). I’ve been told that everyone does it, but you’re more likely to notice it if you take longer getting to sleep. That seems to be true for my sample of one.
I am sorry I confused people on what I was looking for. I know the name of the condition I was looking for the term of when someone says something and then suddenly you notice it all around you. And you never noticed it before.
It doesn’t have to be medical. It’s like when you teach someone how to drive and you explain step to step, what you’re doing. You don’t realize how many steps are involved even before you turn the car key on
I believe this is a symptom of Restless Leg Syndrome, but you really should be asking you doctor this.
As far as noticing goes. Perhaps youve been waking up but never remembered it, but now that your coworker has mentioned it you are recalling it. This is like when someone mentions something that reminds me of a dream. I suddenly have complete recall of the dream.
Just before bed, sit comfortably and imagine the jerks happening. As soon as they happen, attach the sensation to a warm, soft, comfy, bed, and the relief of knowing that you are drifting off to sleep. Let yourself feel the happiness and comfort of anticipating a nice long rest.
You might even do it a few times during the day, just a quick daydream to prime your subconscious.
Hopefully, you can train your brain to recognize these as reasons to relax into the sleep, instead of something to wake up and notice. . .
