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Terrifying and confusing, sleep paralysis is not a fun experience. You may feel like you've woken up dead but don't worry; it's harmless. Let's go through what might cause sleep paralysis and how to help stop it...
10 Min Read | By Leigh Horan
Last Modified 13 June 2023 First Added 20 February 2019
Linked to several sleep conditions, sleep paralysis is a liminal state between sleep and wakefulness in which a person is partly conscious but unable to move due to a loss of muscle control; occasions of sleep paralysis regularly involve hallucinations. This paralysis, though explained in various ways throughout history, is now frequently linked to REM sleep – a stage of sleep that inhibits the function of motor neurones producing REM sleep atonia.
Back in 2011, a review found that 7.6% of the world’s population will experience at least one episode in their lifetime. Although this is particularly frightening and unpleasant, it’s not harmful to your health.
Sleep paralysis definition:
A brief inability to move or speak just before falling asleep or upon awakening, often accompanied by terrifying hallucinations. It may occur in any individual but is seen especially in individuals with narcolepsy and may be due to a temporary dysfunction of the reticular activating system.
Source: APA Dictionary
Join Dr Pixie as she chats with Jessica Barratt, a journalist who has had sleep paralysis for 21 years. Also joining the conversation is Hope Bastine, a sleep psychologist with a specific interest in the condition. Hope explains how the misinterpretation of light and noise can be critical in causing sleep paralysis. In contrast, Jessica gives us the lowdown on how she’s finally gone six months free from this terrifying ordeal!
It’s a commonly asked question with multiple theories. And although a range of causes leads to someone experiencing it, experts haven’t yet found a clearly defined source for the cause of sleep paralysis. However, several inducing factors are:
Sleep paralysis can have traumatic consequences for the sufferer. Many of those that experience sleeping paralysis have described the following sensations, either when waking up or falling asleep:
Overnight, our brain goes through several different sleep cycles, all crucial stages of sleep for the brain to rest, recover and prepare for the next day. One of these stages is REM sleep, otherwise known as Rapid Eye Movement sleep or deep sleep. During this phase, our brains send our bodies into complete paralysis to rest.
This is when things can go wrong. During this period of paralysis, you can wake up while still stuck in REM sleep. This means you can see your surroundings but not move a muscle. The person experiencing sleep paralysis may or may not hallucinate whilst ‘stuck’ in their bodies due to the terrifying nature of the experience.
Describing the sleep disorder, Dr Michael Breus says:
Most patients say the same thing to describe sleep paralysis: that it feels like you woke up dead. You know that your mind is awake and your body is not — so you’re trapped, essentially.
An episode will typically last a few seconds until your body ‘wakes up’. However, in worst-case scenarios, it can last a few minutes.
Due to the disconnect between your brain and body, it’s common to experience unsettling and terrifying hallucinations while in paralysis. According to Very Well Health, common hallucinations include seeing a dark figure in the room or bright flashes. Others have reported seeing animals or colours, and some have even seen a version of themselves looking back at them. That’s why this condition is often called The Demon of the Bedroom.
Your anxiety levels are incredibly high, as your brain cannot rationalise the experience. Sometimes you may be able to hear or see shadows, but you cannot process these properly. This leads your brain to project shapes or even images of yourself within your field of vision, which only induces more panic.
Many experts believe sleep paralysis explains paranormal experiences such as seeing ghosts at night and even UFO abductions!
The simple answer is no; sleep paralysis can’t cause death. Even though it’s incredibly scary, it’s not harmful. During our research, we found the following from The Sleep Doctor, Dr Breus:
Research has shown that sleep paralysis is not dangerous. It does not cause physical harm to the body and there are no clinical deaths known to date.
However, the stress and anxiety resulting from this parasomnia can have notable effects. If you’re struggling, speaking to your GP for further advice is recommended.
Unfortunately, there’s no concrete way to escape this sleeping disorder, and you must try not to panic and trust that you will wake up. However, there are some things you can try to help bring yourself out of it quicker:
Unlike sleepwalking, the general advice is to help someone wake up if they have sleep paralysis. Technically, they are awake but need help connecting their brain and body. Sleep paralysis also feels like it’s going on for much longer than it is, so helping someone come out of it quicker will stop them from feeling as distressed. You can talk to or shake them slightly to help eliminate the paralysis.
Of course, it’s challenging to recommend that anyone suffering from the problem gets a good night’s sleep to overcome it, as often the issue is that the sufferer cannot do so.
Instead, taking specific steps to hopefully lessen your chances of experiencing it include monitoring your sleep and wake times more effectively so that you consistently achieve the optimum amount of hours for your age.
Yes, unfortunately, sleep paralysis can be widespread in children. This is because they are processing a lot of information, and their brains are still developing. However, they may not be able to articulate what they are experiencing. Night terrors are also common for kids.
The best way to help your child suffering from either is to establish a healthy bedtime routine with as little stress before sleep as possible.
It was considered the work of demons – specifically incubi and succubi – which would sit upon the chests of sleepers and lead to sensations of suffocation. The Old English term for these demons is the mare from which nightmare is derived. Sufferers of this condition were often said to be ‘hag-ridden’, and it is this term for sleep paralysis that roots the state in folklore more than 4000 years old.
Medical science has not, of course, decided to declare the reality of demons. However, this population, among which otherwise healthy men with a median age of 33 were dying in unexpectedly high numbers from SUNDS, held a sincere belief in a nightmare spirit called the dab tsog. Combined with the stress the idea induced during instances of sleep paralysis, this superstition is believed to be a possible contributing factor in their death.
Potentially experienced by as much as 8% of the population, the first clinical description of sleep paralysis was published in 1664 by Isbrand Van Diemerbroeck. This Dutch physician described it as an Incubus or Nightmare. Still, despite more than three centuries of study, a definitive cause of sleep paralysis has yet to be found – through a study published in 2021 may have confirmed suspected links:
We identified a population of glycinergic neurons in the ventral medulla that plays an important role in inducing muscle atonia during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep […] Genetic silencing of this pathway resulted in REM sleep without atonia and a decrease of cataplexy when applied to narcoleptic mice.
While it will take a while before statements can be made conclusively, there is at least hope that the cause of such experiences may soon be identified, creating more targeted treatments a possibility.
Sleep paralysis is possibly the most widely depicted parasomnia, also known as sleep disorders, in popular culture. It has appeared in everything from Brahm Stoker’s Dracula to the X-Files and plays a part in many of the Creepy Pasta influenced digital folk-tales of shadow people and other tales of the paranormal or supernatural. With appearances in folklore across the globe and throughout thousands of years, it is no wonder that this frequently terrifying condition has found its way into the tropes of many genres.
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