False awakening
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A false awakening is an event in which someone dreams they have awakened from sleep. This illusion of having awakened is often very convincing to the person. After a false awakening, people will usually dream of performing daily morning rituals, believing they have truly awakened. Like a lucid dream, the dreamer can think very clearly during a false awakening. Because of this ability to think clearly, false awakenings can help people dream lucidly. However, false awakenings are not the same as lucid dreams because the dreamers do not always know they are still dreaming.
Because the dreamer is still dreaming after a false awakening, it is possible for there to be more than one false awakening in a single dream. Often, dreamers will seem to have awakened, begin eating breakfast, brushing teeth, etc and then find themselves back in bed, begin daily morning rituals, believe that they have awakened, and so forth. More commonly, dreamers will believe they have awakened and then "fall back asleep" in the dream.
A dream in which a false awakening takes place is sometimes colloquially referred to as a "double dream".
Certain aspects of life may be dramatized, or out of place in false awakenings. Things may seem wrong, just small details, like the painting on a wall, or large details, like not being able to talk. In some experiences, the human senses are heightened, or changed. For instance, one may be able to see things in greater detail, or lesser detail, or one may feel an intense burst of fear and anxiety, or possibly pleasure.
In some cases false awakenings can also be nightmares. For example, a dreamer may "awaken" to find a man with a knife standing over them, only to "awaken" again to find the man still there, and so on. In other cases, a dreamer may be aware that he has had a false awakening, then struggle to wake himself up for real, only to find himself in another false awakening. Such nightmares can be prolonged and extremely disrupting.
Research into the dream-suppressing properties of various drugs has begun in an effort to treat such nightmares.#redirect
After awakening in real life, the person will most commonly feel confusion or fear over the fact that the false awakening felt so realistic.
See also
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