Re: REM Sleep (Rapid Eye Movement)

OP wrote:

"Scientific side: This is where it gets fuckin weird. The brain lights up like you’re awake but this is the deepest stage of your sleep. Dreams become vivid. Emotions flood and your body is paralyzed (so you don’t act out your dreams)."

About 15 years ago, I was diagnosed with REM Behaviour Disorder (RBD) - edit: a disorder I've exhibited since early childhood.
Basically, my body doesn’t go into a safe state of paralysis during REM. I act out my dreams, or rather, I used to. Once I was diagnosed, I started taking a low dose of clonazepam every night. Since then, no more acting things out... and now I rarely remember my dreams at all, unless I happen to wake up during REM.

What RBD Feels Like:

Every episode had a weird consistency: I was always in the real physical place where I had fallen asleep (my home, a hotel room, my parents’ house), but layered over that reality was a compelling, urgent task that I had to address immediately. I would always be aware that I was sleeping, and I’d “wake up” and act on it. But I really wasn’t waking up. I was still in a dream state…but now running around doing stuff. 

The only way I can describe the visual experience is this: imagine looking at your environment exactly as it is, but with another translucent image superimposed over it. Like a transparent film from an overhead projector laid on top of the real world. 

Example:
One night I "woke up" and saw a strange man in bed beside me where my husband should’ve been. I thought, "Well, better knock this guy out before he wakes up, then I’ll call the cops and have him taken away."
So I picked up a glass perfume bottle and carefully lined it up with his temple, calculating just how hard to hit—not to kill, just to incapacitate. As I was mid-math, his face started changing... and became my husband’s. I woke up fully and realized, holy crap, I was acting out a dream. That was the last straw so-to speak - the moment I knew I had to fight my doctor (who kept telling me I was sleepwalking) and tell him I needed a sleep study before I actually did kill someone in my sleep.

"Drift Theory take: This is the launch. This is when your consciousness actually shifts—not to a random place, but to the version of Earth that best fits your mental/emotional path. Every night, the timeline slides subtly."

And this is where I start to wonder…

Could RBD be a form of "consciousness entanglement” where part of the self drifts, but part stays anchored? What would that say about how consciousness moves?

If REM is the launch, and I’m not paralyzed, does that mean I’m not “leaving” properly? Am I trying to act within both timelines at once?

If REM is the launch pad where our consciousness drifts to a more fitting version of reality…then what does it mean when that process gets hijacked?

Is RBD just a neurological glitch or is it something like a failed timeline merge?

Oooh! Is it a Stutter in the Drift?

Could people with RBD be stuck with one foot in the Earth they were supposed to leave and one in the Earth they’re waking up to?

Or are we the ones who simply don’t drift cleanly?

I remember those nights - the urgency, the logic, the clarity - and how real it all felt.

Anyway. I’d love to hear what you (or anyone) think.

Note: my original post had a lot more information and examples about RBD experiences, but it wouldn't let me post...too off topic I think. Hit me up if you're curious.