# States of mind in transition to sleep **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/states-of-mind-in-transition-to-sleep/400009 "2007-04-13T20:29:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Engywook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/states-of-mind-in-transition-to-sleep/400009/1 "2007-04-13T20:29:20Z")
I was looking around for a thread on whether anybody ever dreams in black and white (I don’t, and everybody I’ve asked who can see color when awake says they dream exclusively in color). While I haven’t found one yet, I ran across [this one from January](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=403397), which I think is a lot more interesting (if too short). The OP was asking about this sensation of… well, I was gonna summarize it, but **Pygmy Rugger** really does describe it better than I can: > [@](#): > > Sometimes, as I’m falling asleep, I begin to have a “dream”. It’s not like an REM-type dream, because I make up the story as I go along, and only happens in the first stage of sleep. There are is no “visual” or “audio” stimuli. Sometimes it feels like I can “see” the words, a dark (as in, absence of light, not a physical color) background, with a word that seems to be lit up by a flashlight. I never actually see letters, though, just lines of text, that scroll down. I somehow feel that I must read at the speed it’s scrolling, and I get pissed at the end, usually, because I’ll hear something that wakes me. The thread’s about four months old, but I’m hoping to revive the discussion because I have that experience too. It’s not exactly a dream; it’s thoughts expressed as clear language, and it usually feels very similar to when I’m writing a story. I usually think it’s coherent, and suspect that these thoughts actually are sensible enough to post, say, on this message board. But in nearly every instance I forget the content entirely when I become fully awake. In fact, the only way I ever can remember this stuff is if it transitions into a full dream, as it sometimes does. One other feature of the experience, at least as it occurs to me: I’m not aware that I’m actually asleep (that happens too, even in non-dream sleep, but it’s another topic), falling asleep, half-awake, transitioning, or whatever I want to call it. I’d go so far as to say that I forget, in this state, that there are any other kinds of experience at all. There have been a number of times, in fact, where I have a thought along the lines of, “…oh, and obviously this is what eternity is like.” That’s a startling enough thought to make me wake up all the way and wonder, “What the hell else was I thinking, though? Seemed interesting at the time. Oh well… zzzzzzz.” FWIW, yes, I have used hallucinogens in the past. And no, it’s been over eight years. And interestingly (to me at least), I didn’t begin to have this sort of experience until shortly after my first trip (but on the other hand, after my first trip, I no longer had hypnopompic hallucinations… weird, huh?). Anyhow, cmon folks, if any of this rings a bell, please give… I’d love to see more on this than only a couple of posts this time around. Part of the entertainment, I think, is writing about a subject such as “what it is like to be asleep” without sounding like you’ve fallen off your rocker. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/states-of-mind-in-transition-to-sleep/400009/2 "2007-04-13T20:37:12Z")
I started a thread a couple of weeks ago in GQ about [disturbed sleep](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=413495&highlight=disturbed+sleep) and learned that what I’m experiencing is a hypnogogic hallucination (hypnompic, technically, since mine occur when I’m waking). While I don’t see letters, I sure as heck have the other experience you describe of not being aware I’m asleep. ---
**Author:** ![Engywook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/states-of-mind-in-transition-to-sleep/400009/3 "2007-04-13T20:42:20Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] I started a thread a couple of weeks ago in GQ about [disturbed sleep](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=413495&highlight=disturbed+sleep) and learned that what I’m experiencing is a hypnogogic hallucination (hypnompic, technically, since mine occur when I’m waking). [/QUOTE] It’d say it’s distinct from a hypnopompic or 'gogic hallucination. I used to have those too (usually auditory, but the visual ones were what made my skin crawl). The content is entirely text; no images at all. In my case, there’s not even an image of the text, if you can, eh, picture that. At the risk of hijacking my own thread… I couldn’t find a thread about whether anyone dreams in black and white. I’m sure there is one out there… any kind souls point me in the right direction? ---
**Author:** ![AHoosierMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@AHoosierMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHoosierMama)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/states-of-mind-in-transition-to-sleep/400009/4 "2007-04-13T20:42:53Z")
I also regularly experience viewing text as I fall asleep. I couldn’t tell you what any of it says. I also tend to see faces of people I don’t recognize. ---
**Author:** ![AHoosierMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@AHoosierMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHoosierMama)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/states-of-mind-in-transition-to-sleep/400009/5 "2007-04-17T13:27:10Z")
I’m going to give this one more go to see if there are any biters since I’ve always been very interested in sleep and dreaming. Back in college I took a Psych 101 type class and remember covering hypnogogic “illusion” briefly. I’ve always thought that this was an entirely inadequate description of a poorly understood phenomena. I’d also like to further explore why there seem to be many common themes in dreams that are experienced widely. See thread [What is the Most Common Bad Dream on the Dope?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=406763) I’m not ready to dismiss it as cultural symbolism.