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Is their evidence to this old wives tale?

What old wives tale?

Seriously? Actually...sorry....if someone having a rough go a dream...shake them by the ankle and keep sying their name

Mabye it originated in britain, apparently waking them up causes them slight trauma and could make them more susceptible to heart attacks. That and they find it hard to sleep for a while because they're pumped on adrenaline.

Its the situational awareness. Going to give myself as an example.

I'm in a heavy fire fight. I'm moving, ducking, dodging, and see ahead of me on who's a potential theat. Being very aware that rounds are smacking near me.
Sudden transition from dream to reality (awake) I move violently away from a percieved threat. Takes about 10 secs to notice I'm in a bedroom.

It blows but yes. Don't be arms length from waking someone.

On the subject of Nightmares, I have decided that Voldemort wasn't actually that scary of a wizard.

Beleive me, he had no imagination, and there were alot scarier things he could have done if he had any sort of thinking mind, trust me on this.

Freddy...back in the dys when Freddy first appeared....

Meh, scrubbing Frodo's feet after all the walking must be nightmarish.

think the hair in your nostril will burn out first

I dunno, but one time I woke up my cat from a nightmare and he clawed the feth out of my arm.

GalacticDefender wrote:I dunno, but one time I woke up my cat from a nightmare and he clawed the feth out of my arm.

A Ex-favourite cat I assume?

Jihadin wrote:Sudden transition from dream to reality (awake) I move violently away from a percieved threat. Takes about 10 secs to notice I'm in a bedroom.

It blows but yes. Don't be arms length from waking someone.

Yeah, exactly. There's very often a transitional period before proper situational awareness kicks in and some people can react violently (or at least extremely startled) before they're fully awake and engaged with their surroundings. It varies from person to person, and with how deeply they were sleeping and the severity of the nightmare, but if you can't wake them without actually touching them the chances are it isn't particularly safe to do so. Ankle is probably your best bet, but you should always try talking to them first.

If they actually suffer from night terrors, btw, don't touch them under any circumstances. People have died that way.

A Kvlt Ghost wrote:
If they actually suffer from night terrors, btw, don't touch them under any circumstances. People have died that way.

Citation needed

Ankle is probably your best bet, but you should always try talking to them first.

Really? I would have thought that most people's legs are stronger than their arms and more likely to deal a powerful blow.

Rented Tritium wrote:

A Kvlt Ghost wrote:
If they actually suffer from night terrors, btw, don't touch them under any circumstances. People have died that way.

Citation needed

I killed a man that tried to wake me from a night terror... with my thumb.

Really though, I could see that happening. Because your dreams and reality mix when you are having a night-terror, I could imagine that if you see someone shaking you, you would try and kill them in your crazed state.

Even wikipedia says that people having night terrors can do extremely violent things.

Jihadin wrote:Its the situational awareness. Going to give myself as an example.

I'm in a heavy fire fight. I'm moving, ducking, dodging, and see ahead of me on who's a potential theat. Being very aware that rounds are smacking near me.
Sudden transition from dream to reality (awake) I move violently away from a percieved threat. Takes about 10 secs to notice I'm in a bedroom.

It blows but yes. Don't be arms length from waking someone.

Agreed, my dad has had violent nightmares on and off for his whole life. And once he was having a real bad one, so my mom woke him up, and he punched her right in the face. Once he realized what happened, he felt like total gak, and she knew it wasnt an intentional thing, but still it happens. So yea, what Jihadin said

The Bringer wrote:

Rented Tritium wrote:

A Kvlt Ghost wrote:
If they actually suffer from night terrors, btw, don't touch them under any circumstances. People have died that way.

Citation needed

I killed a man that tried to wake me from a night terror... with my thumb.

Really though, I could see that happening. Because your dreams and reality mix when you are having a night-terror, I could imagine that if you see someone shaking you, you would try and kill them in your crazed state.

Even wikipedia says that people having night terrors can do extremely violent things.

Yeah, but in a discussion about if something is an old wives tale or not, wikipedia's usefulness drops a bit. I'm gonna need actual documented cases before I buy that "people have died"

I was once sleeping with a lady who was a good size smaller than me, she tried to wake me from a nightmare and I threw her across the room before I was awake enough to know where I was. After that, if she heard me getting 'snarly' in my sleep, she'd get up, get a glass of water and throw the water at me to wake me up from a reasonable distance.

It can be dangerous to you if that someone is fighting in their dream.

Im laughing MGS, thats funny

InquisitorVaron wrote:

GalacticDefender wrote:I dunno, but one time I woke up my cat from a nightmare and he clawed the feth out of my arm.

A Ex-favourite cat I assume?

Actually I thought it was quite hilarious at the time.

Nightmares aren't so bad once you get the hang of lucid dreaming.

The Boogeyman isn't so scary when you're slapping him around with your vorpal backhand.

infinite_array wrote:Nightmares aren't so bad once you get the hang of lucid dreaming.

Lucid dreams occasionally present their own problems. Sometimes when I have a highly realistic lucid dream that fits within my daily life I later struggle to remember what was part of the dream, and what actually happened.

I've never managed to have a lucid dream, nor do I have a problem knowing where I am when I wake up.

Curse my grounded in reality consiousness!

I don't know about causing the dreamer trauma, but the dreamer can INFLICT trauma under the right circumstances. Translation: That multiple tour war veteran with a head full of mad and bad memories? Don't thunder up to this person and grab them by the shoulders to shake them awake. Them old folks got a lot of power left in them.

My preferred method of waking people up is to yell at them, or failing that, fling something at their balls from the safety of the doorframe. Works every time.

I keep a gun at bedside in case anyone tries to break in the house. I keep it in a small combination gun-safe bolted to the night stand.

It would be to risky IMO to be able to be in the transitional "WTF is going on" state and have access to a gun. I figure that if I am lucid and aware enough to type in the code then I should be lucid and aware enough to handle a firearm and know what is going on.

d-usa wrote:I keep a gun at bedside in case anyone tries to break in the house. I keep it in a small combination gun-safe bolted to the night stand.

It would be to risky IMO to be able to be in the transitional "WTF is going on" state and have access to a gun. I figure that if I am lucid and aware enough to type in the code then I should be lucid and aware enough to handle a firearm and know what is going on.

Allot of people are killed every year that way. Just because you are lucid dreaming dose not mean that you are not 100% convinced that the person in bed next to you is the Boggy man/Freddy Kruger/a killer.

Keeping a firearm there is not a good idea.

I keep a M4 and 9mm by my bed. I'm....to use to it. Don't look to far ino that its what I'm use to

dogma wrote:

infinite_array wrote:Nightmares aren't so bad once you get the hang of lucid dreaming.

Lucid dreams occasionally present their own problems. Sometimes when I have a highly realistic lucid dream that fits within my daily life I later struggle to remember what was part of the dream, and what actually happened.

DO DO DEE DO BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM&feature=related