My son (4 years) has something similar but it only happens when he is woken up in the middle of the night. For example if we leave familys house late and he falls asleep in the car for an hour and then we need to wake him up. He just wakes up crying. You ask him to unbutton his seat belt, crying. You ask him to get out of the car, crying. And he can not seem to control it. It is like his eyes are open and he can hear you, but can not comprehend or do what you are asking. But if I wake him during naps, he is completely fine. And he wakes himself in the middle of the night for pee or such, he is fine.