Classifications

I think of my own dreams and sleepwalking experiences as having classifications. I have no idea if there are such things in the sleep study world, but I doubt it.

Dreams
Category 1: Normal dreams. -these are the dreams everyone has. They usually involve things from your everyday life. You are usually yourself in this dream. They don't make very much sense, and are therefore hard to explain in words.

Category 2: Nightmares -self evident. This can be combined with either type 1 or 3, or can stand on it's own.

Category 3: Epic Dreams -These dreams are long, and extremely vivid. They usually involve an explainable plot, characters, and are set not in my own life. I often don't play myself in this kind of dream. My dream about being half-angel and visiting hell falls in this category.

It's true that there are dreams that fall somewhere between normal and epic, but usually it falls into one category more than the other.

Sleepwalking
Category 1: Normal.
This is my least coherent type of sleepwalking, and what I hear about when other people talk about their sleepwalking experiences. Usually this involves walking around in a confused nature. I often just walk around touching various objects without any apparent intentions. Often this includes just standing up, or sitting up while sleeping. This category also includes just sleeptalking too. In this type, I do not respond when spoken to (unless I'm just talking, not walking around). I don't notice other people in the room. No problem solving skills. I hardly ever remember these events.

Category 2: Motor function: No Interaction.
This type includes the ability to solve problems, such as walking around the table instead of into it. In this stage I usually build little structures/sculptures out of the things in the house, sort coins, make designs out of candles etc. This is also the stage where I text, and write. If someone speaks to me in this stage, I usually don't respond. Even if I am aware of other people being there, they don't factor into what I'm doing and there is little or no interaction. Only sometimes do I remember type 2 or 3, but whatever memories I have will be confusing and distant, like the memories of dreams.

Category 3: Walking + Talking. Interaction.
This is the rarest type for me. This is when I am walking around, interacting with my environment physically and verbally. If there are other people there, I will interact with them. They usually play some sort of role in the dream I am having. In this stage, I usually can figure things out very well in my environment, such as doorknobs/locks etc.


I read that it is impossible to sleep walk or talk while dreaming. Dreaming only occurs during REM sleep, during which time your body is paralyzed. I'm not sure, then, why I usually remember contexts when I have memory of sleepwalking. I can picture the dream I was having, often quite clearly. What I'm guessing is that I have the dream either before or after, then my brain is firing randomly when I'm out of REM sleep, causing me to do things, then my brain makes the connection after I wake up. I'm not a neurologist, and have studied only the basics in the science of sleep, so I really have no idea. But you're always hearing about the brain bridging connections like that.

Anyway. Those are my classifications. As useless and useful as any classifications are.