Have
you ever felt that when you suddenly woke up in the middle of the night; a
scary shadow was also in the room with you, slowly moving towards your bed;
that tall and slender shadow stood over your face and looked at you with a hiss
in your ears and shrieks in your brain. Sometimes, you felt like you were being
buried alive and you woke up trapped in a coffin.
You wanted to shout, but felt as if something was holding your back.
You sweated, shivered, and gasped for breath, felt helpless, paralyzed, unable
to make sounds or move muscles, felt like your heart would burst with fear.
You scream for help, but
you can’t…. You can’t even breathe now as the scary entity moves in closer.
Is this a dream? A hallucination? Or is this
all real?
All the spooky feelings you experienced might be Sleep Paralysis(SP),
which temporarily paralyzes your entire body
An average person needs to
sleep for approximately eight hours per day, because It maintains our mental
and physical health. However, a good night’s sleep isn’t easily achieved or
they are disturbed by this bizarre or scary occurrence known as sleep
paralysis.
Almost everyone experiences
sleep paralysis at least once; when you are half-conscious and can not move but
fully aware of what is happening.
What is Sleep Paralysis,
Sleep paralysis refers to a feeling of a person being conscious during sleep
but unable to move or speak. It occurs when your mind wakes before your body or
when a person passes between the stages of wakefulness and sleep. You can
breathe normally, see and understand everything around you, but cannot move a
muscle no matter how hard you try.
Sleep paralysis involves a brief muscle control known as 'Muscle Atonia'. It is a
type of parasomnia (abnormal behaviours during sleep) inherent in human nature
globally.
The episode may last for a few seconds or few minutes but could be highly
uncomfortable for those experiencing it. People may feel pressure or choking in
their chest, have trouble breathing and experience scary hallucinations. In few
instances, this escalates into sexual molestation or assault.
A foul smell has also been
perceived at times during the paralytic attack.
It is more likely to happen when sleeping on one’s back (supine position).
Typology of sleep paralysis
depends on the time of occurrence. Whenever sleep paralysis occurs while the
person is falling asleep, it is called Hypnagogic or Predormital and when it
occurs while the person is waking up, it is called Hypnopompic or Postdormital
sleep paralysis.
What causes sleep paralysis,
According to the Sleep Foundation, the exact causes of sleep paralysis are
unknown despite several studies being done on the subject. Around 75% of people
who have had an episode of sleep paralysis have also experienced one of three
types of hallucinations, an intruder hallucination (someone dangerous is in the
room), chest pressure hallucination (the feeling of being suffocated), and
vestibular-motor hallucination (the feeling of flying, shaking, or out of body
experience).
You’re typically not aware
of it, but the “paralysis” part of sleep paralysis actually happens every night
when you sleep during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
REM sleep is often referred to as a stage of sleep that takes up 20-25% of your
typical night. It occurs in a few chunks, mostly during the second half of the
night. During REM, your brain is actually quite active—the electrical signals
from the brain look almost like they do when you’re awake. This is also when
most dreaming happens, along with a lot of emotional processing that the brain
does behind the scenes.
Other sleep disorders such
as obstructive sleep apnea are also linked to a higher incidence of sleep
paralysis.
Sleep
paralysis: a hallucinations or a reality?,
Alongside the inability to move or speak, sleep paralysis can also
include the sense of an intruder being present and an intense fear. However,
this intruder is only a hallucination. About
75% of the time, people experiencing sleep paralysis will hallucinations.
The hallucinations may last from a few seconds to a few minutes. The
hallucinations can include:
A fearful apprehension (feeling that something bad will happen).
A sensation that someone is in the bedroom.
Feeling that someone or something is there on your chest or choking you.
Spotting a “demon in the room:” An image of a frightening creature like a
ghost, monster, witch, or demon near you.
Sleep paralysis hallucinations often include visions of incubus and succubus (a
male or a female demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping
person); that could be demon, witch, ghost, beast, or other ominous creature is
a hypnopompic hallucination; demonic entities who lie atop sleeping people,
harboring evil intentions.
We’re all prone to visual, auditory, and sensory hallucinations, both when
we’re falling asleep or when we’re waking up. Hypnagogic hallucinations occur
when we’re slipping into the first phase of sleep, which is non-REM (NREM). You
might see a kaleidoscope of colors or patterns, for example, or you might
experience a sense of falling and then accidentally jerk yourself awake.
Hypnopompic hallucinations, on the other hand, occur when we’re waking up and
transitioning out of REM sleep. They are often continuations of dreams.
During REM sleep, your brain lacks the information to correctly assess whether
a threat is real. So, during a “visit” from a sleep paralysis demon, nothing is
reassuring you that it’s only a dream.
Many people misunderstand this for an encounter with something paranormal, but
it is simply a medical condition or say a sleeping disorder. There are no
serious risks associated with sleep paralysis however, you may experience
mental or physical stress.
Researchers suggest that the cause of these hallucinations may be a transient
and harmless neurological disturbance. However, more research is needed to
understand exactly what is happening in the brain during these demonic
hallucinations.
Who develops Sleep
Paralysis,
Mostly, sleep paralysis occurs in people who have narcolepsy (chronic sleep
disorder that causes overwhelming daytime drowsiness) or sleep apnoea (a
potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and
starts).
Medically speaking, a sleep paralysed person goes through troubling episodes of
hallucinations and suffocating sensations. Usually, post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), general anxiety disorder, panic disorder and certain
hereditary factors can predispose a person to sleep paralysis.
The
American Journal of Psychiatry says - “Sleep paralysis apparently occurs more
frequently than reported cases would indicate. It has also been observed that
around 7.6% of the global population experiences at least one episode in their
lifetime. The condition is also found to be occurring frequently in psychiatric
patients and students almost equally", reveals a 2011 study. Lifetime
episodes of this sleep disorder are fairly common and equally affect men and
women. On average, onset is usually experienced between 14 and 17 years. A
family history of sleep paralysis may exist.
Research shows college students and shift workers have higher rates of sleep
paralysis. Insomnia or disrupted sleeping patterns due to shift work or jet lag
can also lead to sleep paralysis.
How to prevent sleep
paralysis,
First of all, keep in
mind that many other people have it and that you are not the lone sufferer.
Sometimes the most effective way to deal with the disorder is to get a clear
understanding of the disorder and develop your own effective ways of waking
yourself or your partner.
If you have a medical or psychiatric disorder that makes sleep paralysis more
likely, such as narcolepsy or an anxiety disorder, getting treatment for that
disorder is the most important thing to do.
Some say that sleep paralysis can be controlled with Fluoxetine-type
antidepressants, which inhibit REM sleep. This is especially useful where there
is an underlying depression.
Sleep paralysis tends to happen when your sleep schedule is disturbed or you’re
sleep deprived. If the brain repeatedly does not get enough REM sleep, it will
definitely lead to some sleep disorders.
According to one recent study, relaxing the body and mind may reduce or even
eliminate sleep paralysis. The technique involves having a few pleasant
internal things to focus on during a sleep paralysis episode, such as a nice
memory, and consciously trying to relax your muscles.
To achieve a good night's sleep minimize alcohol and recreational drugs,
especially at night.
You may benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for recurrent sleep
paralysis, which would include learning techniques for disrupting the sleep
paralysis episode in the moment along with relaxation practice, skills for
coping with hallucinations and healthy ways to think about sleep paralysis
attacks.
Because of the connection
between sleep paralysis and general sleeping problems, improving sleep hygiene
is a common focus in preventing sleep paralysis. Sleep hygiene refers to a
person’s bedroom setting and daily habits that influence sleep quality.
Whenever
you get hit with sleep paralysis, it’s important to remain calm and just wait
for your body to wake up. It’s also important to learn from your
mistakes—research has shown that sleep paralysis is linked with poor sleeping
habits that you can easily remedy.
What modern science says
about sleep paralysis,
Evidence suggests that sleep paralysis is caused by an overlap of REM sleep and
wakefulness. The hallucinations accompanying the sleep paralysis are “identical
to hypnagogic hallucinations and are probably a consequence of dream imagery
occurring during wakefulness”
There is a substantial amount of myths and science behind the sleep disorder
sleep paralysis. Although there is reasoning behind the vivid imagery but why
this disorder occurs, there is no specific reasoning to why people hallucinate
these certain scenarios.
Modern sciences do not have a clear and conclusive understanding of the
phenomenon. However the various hypotheses put forth as possible explanations
of the various symptoms are:
Those undergoing severe stress are reliving past horrors through sleep
paralysis.
They are hallucinations akin to dreaming.
They are due to the activation of that part of the brain which monitors the
surroundings for threats and launches responses to perceived dangers. An
activation of this part of the brain in the absence of any real threat during
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) part of sleep gives rise to a feeling of an
intimidating presence in the immediate surroundings. (REM part of sleep is that
part associated with dreaming when the eyeballs are seen to be moving rapidly).
Hopefully
within upcoming years of research they find more information about this
disorder, and how to treat it. The fear and anxiety caused from SP will
optimistically diminish as resolutions transpire.
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