waking up in middle of the nite.

[sweetieeao]

I wake up in the middle of the nite to go to the bathroom and see a tall man down the hall.  But then he disappears and I know he really was not there.  What causes this?

[sweetieeao]

I don't think I was dreaming at least I don't remember.  It was the first time it ever happened and I believe I was awake. I was staying over my daughter house and so frightened I woke her in the same room and told her that there was a man in the house and to call 911 which she did and the police came and of course there wasn't anyone in the house. He just disappeared down the hallway and was gone. I am very sane  so I can't explain what caused it to happen.  It is also something you don't talk about to others I think they would think I'm crazy. LOL  Thanks for responding

[Jerry_NJ]

Were you dreaming before you woke up?  Does the man look familiar, always the same?  What makes him disappear, time, approach, turn light on???

The cause is the mind, the question is how do you stop it, or would you rather communicate/engage?  In a dream, and I think this is an extension of a dream, one can try to resolve mental conflicts/concerns by first recognizing they are dreaming, then engaging the dream.  Here you know you are awake, check on that - see Lucid Dreaming on the web (I like a book by Stephan DeBerges - think that the name, Stanford U) to see how to determine if you are dreaming or awake.  Be sure you are dreaming before you take any physical risks.

I have engaged nightmare problems and rarely have nightmares, especially no repeats.  But, I have not been successful at engaging in Lucid Dreaming on what I call trouble mares, a chronic problem I have with sleep.