Is this dissociation or something else? Falling asleep for seconds but staying conscious

[Calmdown]

I had a very difficult time over half a year ago, something triggered me. After weeks of struggling I just fell asleep while staying conscious when something was too much emotionally. My head nods forward, I start breathing heavily, and it looks like I'm asleep, but I'm still conscious. It only lasts a few seconds.
I thought it could be something like narcolepsy, but it happened only during that time in my life. Or maybe it was just exhaustion? But it happened only when I didn't stop focusing on related difficult topics.

I didn't find anything about it so I guess it is not a typical form of dissociation but maybe someone knows more.

 

[parrotthepolly]

You mean you're still aware and conscious but can't move anything? It's sounds like the flop response, where muscles become limp and unresponsive and it's a form of playing dead as a last resort.

Do you still experience it now and have you spoken to any therapists about it?
If there's too many unprocessed emotions at once it makes sense for the brain to block it out somehow.

 

[Calmdown]

Interesting. With that term I find more information. I only expierenced it back then, in general most symptoms of that time are gone now. I could not talk to a therapist about it which is a big issue for me. Therapists here have no capacity and then I still need to find someone that has some knowledge which I found out is rare regarding trauma.

 

[arfie]

i experienced something similar during my years of sleep-deprevation levels of insomnia. to my senses, it is a step beyond simple exhaustion where the body begins delivering adrenaline shots to compensate for the lack of sleep. it is something like being an all natural speed freak except that your dealer literally lives in your head and delivers for free.

my insomnia was closely tied to my hyper-vigilance with similar dynamics attached.

 

[Friday]

Oh. Waking doze. We learned that in the military… on purpose. To all intents & purposes you SEEM asleep, and get all -nearly all- the benefits OF sleep, but are actually aware of everything going on around you, can answer people talking, spring into full action between heartbeats. You can exist, using only the waking doze, for several months… before experiencing the sleep dep a 72hrs awake gives. IE One DOES get gritty, but not crazy.

 

[shimmerz]

After weeks of struggling I just fell asleep while staying conscious when something was too much emotionally.

I feel like the word 'sleep' and consciousness are conflicting. Yes, I have experienced this type of state before. For me it was a trauma response. I don't call it the flop response, as @parrotthepolly does, but yes, I think the description for that is a good one/ For me, the experience is about being acutely aware of what is going on around me but not being able to move. With therapy and many, many issues with this, I came to the fact that I was feeling threatened and was playing dead until I could figure out a way to escape from whatever situation I was in.

From a trauma perspective, it served a very practical purpose.

 

[parrotthepolly]

I feel like the word 'sleep' and consciousness are conflicting. Yes, I have experienced this type of state before. For me it was a trauma response. I don't call it the flop response, as @parrotthepolly does, but yes, I think the description for that is a good one/ For me, the experience is about being acutely aware of what is going on around me but not being able to move. With therapy and many, many issues with this, I came to the fact that I was feeling threatened and was playing dead until I could figure out a way to escape from whatever situation I was in.

From a trauma perspective, it served a very practical purpose.

I don't experience the flop response at all but it's the closest I can match to the symptoms.

 

[RainbowSearchParty]

I’ve had similar things, but also will fall asleep completely when stress gets too high. A past therapist and I decided it was dissociation—an extreme version.

Narcolepsy also comes with dreams, which start before you are totally asleep sometimes, or just after you fall asleep, or happen as hallucinations as you wake up. It’s a disorder of sleep-wake, which means that the brain has trouble understanding when to do REM/dreaming and that happens at the wrong time. Cataplexy is another symptom.

I’m obviously no doctor, but I would assume that this is just dissociation/freeze if there aren’t other symptoms.

(I’m convinced for myself—based on my crazy dream patterns, like dreaming if I fall asleep for just a few minutes on the bus, and what a doctor once said to me—that I might have narcolepsy. But I think the dream patterns are the give away, not the actual falling asleep).

 

[Sideways]

Lasts a few seconds? Microsleep could be your answer.

 

[doodlz]

the exact same thing has been happening to me for months now. i go limp, my body kinda just shuts down, and i feel like i'm asleep, for all other purposes i AM asleep; but i'm also still awake. i can't figure it out and it's not only frustrating but its scaring me. its affecting my grades and relationships and i dont know how to identify or get rid of it.

 

[shimmerz]

It was scary for me as well. It also hasn't done much for my social life. Wondering if anything happened out of the ordinarywhen you were an infant and couldn't get away? This is something my T-doc said right off and about 5 years later I got my children's aid documentation and there it was..... The answer to everything. The missing piece of the puzzle.

For me when I am out of it I am not asleep. I do not dream. I am hyper aware of everything that is happening in the room. Even if my eyes are not open. I know where everyone is and I know how to get out of the room. The minute I have the opportunity to do so, my coordination comes back - I expect so I can escape.

For years I didn't know my background while I troubleshooted this. I buy into the fact that the nervous system reactions can be analyzed in reverse to understand what is at play.

 

[Calmdown]

I think there might be different causes. Sometimes it felt like my body was shutting down to protect me. But it could also be a form of narcolepsy if it happens regularly.