Epic dreaming is leaving people exhausted and distressed

IMAGINE regularly waking up exhausted, not because you didn't sleep, but because you seemingly spent the entire night immersed in incessant dreams, writes Emma Young.

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What is Epic Dreaming?

This condition is called epic dreaming . For people who have it, the effects are serious. It causes big problems in their work and daily lives. One person said, "These bright dreams stay in my mind all day. They take away my energy and make me feel constantly tired."

A Study in France

Scientists in France recently studied four people who experience this. One of them is a 38-year-old woman named Madame R. She said she has always had these dreams, but the problem became worse after her second child was born. Another patient, a 74-year-old man, said his dreams are so real that he sometimes cannot tell the difference between dreaming and real life. Another woman added, "It feels like my brain never stops working at night."

Why Does It Happen?

Dreams usually happen during a stage of sleep called REM sleep . Scientists tested the patients during the night to check their brains. Surprisingly, the tests showed that their sleep time was completely normal. They did not spend more time dreaming than other people.

However, scientists found that their dream sleep was broken into small pieces. They had many micro-arousals , which are very tiny awakenings during the night. These short moments of waking up help people remember their dreams much better. It also gives them the false feeling that they were dreaming without stopping all night. Because the brain works so hard to remember these stories, people wake up feeling tired.

Mental Health and Epic Dreaming

The researchers also checked if this problem was caused by stress, depression, or anxiety. Three of the patients had these mental health problems. However, when doctors treated their depression, the terrible dreaming did not stop. This shows that epic dreaming is its own special sleep illness.

Looking into the Brain

Experts say they need to do more studies with larger groups of people before they can officially call this a new sleep disease.

In the future, these studies can help us understand a major question about human life. By looking at epic dreamers, scientists can learn exactly how the human brain decides what is real and what is just a dream.