Hypnogogic Hi-larity

I know that I have had hypnogogic situations before, but today is the first time that I know that I have had a hypnogogic dream. These dreams are intense REM experiences that feel and are experienced as real by the narcoleptic. My previous examples come from classes in college when I wrote things that were in my brain as I dozed in a lecture rather than what the professor was saying. They also come from my own classroom when I would doze (pre-medication) during student presentations. I would make written comments about the things in my head, rather than the actual items that my students were presenting.

This morning, I was waking up, but was extremely tired. Pan (our youngest cat) was gently reminding my to feed him - to no avail. I kept looking at the clock and attempting to rise, yet the bed continued to pull me back. My frustration started to build because it was getting later and later. While today is a day off from school, I definitely knew that I had to start on all of my work early. As the clock passed six and I had not arisen, my angst jumped another level. Finally, after losing the battle repeatedly, I dragged myself upright, confident that it was close to seven AM - angry by now. As I checked my wife's clock (the accurate one), it read 5:25 AM. Now, we have both had clock problems of late, so I shifted my gaze to mine - the same one I had watched switch from 5:59 AM to 6:00 AM about an hour earlier. It read 5:18 AM (it is seven to eight minutes slower than my wife's). As Pan rubbed against me, still hungry, I realized that the battle with my alarm and my fatigue was a dream - one that I completely believed, making it hypnogogic.

I find this particularly interesting because it is my first one - that I remember. Clearly, my educational experiences (as teacher and teachee) indicate that I am capable of these bizarre occurrences, but never having them in my sleep left me wondering. I RARELY remember dreams. My wife and daughter, as well as numerous friends, can vividly describe dreams that they have had. Other than a horrid dream involving a ghost and a witch that I had as a young child (we are talking 5-7 here), I can barely remember even snatches of the handful of dreams that I know that I have had. There is one with an amusement park and another with teaching. That's it. Given both my irrational anxiety level and the fact that many narcoleptic describe terror filled hypnogogic dreams part of me thinks I lucked out not remembering my dreams. But, another part of me wonders if my hypnogogic dreams, which I possible block out of my conscious mind, are a root cause of the irrational anxiety. I have no idea if that is possible or not. I do know that if my typical hypnogogic dream is anything like the nightmare I had as a child (and it is possible to block these things), I could easily see my subconscious making the decision to isolate them.

I have no idea if my theory has any grounding in reality, but it is interesting to ponder. I do know that my stress and anxiety this morning were real. I got up completely agitated that I had not been able to wake earlier. I was furious with myself, and then I came to terms with reality - it was a dream. Weird. I am excited, and more than a little frightened, to see if I have and remember any other hypnogogic dreams. I also will start doing some research to see what I can learn about not remembering dreams.