---
title: 'The mind''s amazing journey while we sleep'
published: true
date: '17:10 02/02/2019'
taxonomy:
    category:
        - scratchpad
    tag:
        - brain
        - sleep
        - bookmark
        - psychedelic
---

'Every time we experience REM sleep, we literally go mad. By definition, psychosis is a condition characterized by hallucinations and delusions. Dreaming, some sleep scientists say, is a psychotic state — we fully believe that we see what is not there, and we accept that time, location, and people themselves can morph and disappear without warning.'

_In a wild state of psychosis, we’re dreaming, we’re flying, and we’re falling — whether we remember it or not. we’re also regulating our mood and consolidating our memories._

[While we sleep, our brain goes on an amazing journey: NATGEO August 2018](https://t.co/LBBbIMUv4F?amp=1)

'When you dream, your brain is actually trying to produce movements, but a system in the brain stem completely shuts down the motor-neuron gate. There’s a parasomnia—a sleep abnormality that affects the nervous system — called REM behavior disorder in which the gate does not fully lower, and people act out their dreams in spectacular fashion, punching, kicking, swearing, all while their eyes are closed and they’re fully asleep.'

My take:

+Nobody really knows the function of REM sleep but it must have some positive function to be present in all land mammals and birds.

+The psychedelic state is just the REM mechanism activated while the subject is conscious/awake, not some mysterious spiritual channeling.

+Cancer patients suffering from "end-of-life distress" have had many postive psychological benefits from a psychedelic session or two. There must be some benefit to be derived from the REM sleep stage, even if massively induced by psychedlics. See [What if psychedelics could revolutionize the way you die?](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-11-psychedelics-revolutionize-die.html) and [Hallucinogens Have Doctors Tuning In Again](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/science/12psychedelics.html) 


[Dream Deprived: A Modern Epidemic?](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dream-factory/201708/dream-deprived-modern-epidemic)

What does DMT (the most potent psychedelic) feel like
[A little-known hallucinogenic drug called DMT takes people to a place that feels ‘more real than real’ — here’s what researchers know about it](https://www.businessinsider.my/the-research-on-the-hallucinogenic-drug-dmt-2018-3/)