Page 56 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper March/April 2018 Edition

56 13 Facts About Sleep Paralysis

13 Facts About Sleep

Paralysis That Will Keep

You Up At Night

by Caroline Kee

1. It feels kind of like you woke up dead.
"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," Michael Breus, Ph.D., clinical
psychologist and fellow of the American
Academy of Sleep Medicine, tells BuzzFeed
Life.

2. And it's way more complicated than a be very fearful of their surroundings," says associations, there is no clear cause of sleep
nightmare. Breus. paralysis, which is obviously super frustrating
"It is the complete opposite, actually," for anyone going through this.
Breus explains. When you enter deep REM 5. You can't just wake yourself up. We do know that sleep paralysis can
sleep, your brain tells the body's voluntary Some patients report that they can either occur on its own as an isolated incident, or
muscles to relax and go into almost a state of wiggle their toes, fingers, or facial muscles, it can be a symptom of other sleep disorders,
paralysis, which is called atonia. Atonia actually which helps them wake up the rest of their body. such as narcolepsy. And there's no explanation
helps protect the body from injury by preventing "Everybody tries something different, but you for why it might happen every other day or just
you from acting out the physical movements in can’t fool mother nature — there's no way to every once in a while.
your dreams. In other parasomnias, such as pull yourself out of it. You just have to wait it
sleepwalking or REM sleep behavior disorder, out," says Breus. 10. Seriously, people have been trying to
atonia does not occur properly and the voluntary explain this weird phenomenon for
muscles move while the mind remains asleep, 6. Sleep paralysis is actually a natural centuries.
which is why people can sometimes do crazy occurrence and can happen to anyone. Accounts of sleep paralysis can be found
things in their sleep and be totally unaware of it. Every time you go to sleep, there is some in Persian medical texts dating back to the 10th
In sleep paralysis, the body remains risk of waking up in sleep paralysis, says Breus. century. The first clinical observation was made
paralyzed in REM atonia while the brain But severity and degree of consciousness vary by a Dutch physician in 1664 who diagnosed a
awakens and the eyes start to open, explains greatly — most people have at least one episode 50-year-old woman with "Night-Mare." It was
Breus. Sufferers become alert in a transient at some point in life but aren't even aware of it. believed to be caused by demons or spiritual
conscious state, but they are unable to move When it does happen, it's highly individual and possession until the 19th century, when it was
voluntary muscles or speak. Although rarely the same experience for everyone. termed "sleep palsy" and eventually "sleep
involuntary muscle movement, like breathing, is paralysis" in medical texts.
not affected, there is often a sensation of chest 7. It's probably related to being sleep
pressure, which is why many people wake up deprived. 11. And it probably explains whatever is
from sleep paralysis gasping to take a deep According to Breus, research has going on in this very famous Renaissance
breath. Episodes can last anywhere from 20 consistently shown that the less sleep you get painting.
seconds to a few minutes. and the more exhausted you are, the more likely Swiss painter Henry Fuseli's painting is
you are to experience sleep paralysis and other said to be inspired by supernatural dream
3. It happens when you're falling asleep or sleep disorders. experiences and the growing interest in sleep
waking up. paralysis among doctors at the time. This creepy
Sleep paralysis can occur during one of 8. So avoiding sleep paralysis might be as little gremlin could also represent the sensation
two transitions in the sleep cycle. The body must simple as getting better and longer sleep. of chest pressure...or it could be argued that he's
go into REM sleep, and it must come out of it, "Sleep deprivation can either be just trying to get it in with this sleeping damsel.
but sleep paralysis occurs when the body has measured in quantity or quality," says Breus.
trouble making these transitions. If it happens "For example, if you have sleep apnea and you 12. People have blamed sleep paralysis on
when you're falling asleep, it's called wake yourself up because you stop breathing everything from witches and UFOs to giant
hypnagogic sleep paralysis, whereas if it throughout the night, the quantity of your sleep ghost dogs.
happens during waking it's called hypnopompic, is bad. If you consume large amounts of alcohol, And there are various folk legends all
Breus explains. Unfortunately, why the body it prevents you from entering deeper stages of over the world that attempt to explain the
can't transition smoothly is still unknown. sleep which decreases the quality." existence of it in different cultures.
So if sleep paralysis is something you
4. Sleep paralysis can involve hallucinations. deal with, make sure you're getting enough sleep 13. However, there's really no evidence that
Unlike the visuals in nightmares or lucid and you're not doing things that compromise the it'll kill you.
dreams, which occur when the eyes are closed in quality of your sleep (like drinking a lot or "Research has shown that sleep paralysis
REM sleep, these hallucinations occur in the eating right before bed). Breus also suggests is not dangerous," says Breus. "It does not cause
state between sleeping and waking when the noting any abnormal sleep behaviors (that you physical harm to the body and there are no
mind is alert and the eyes are open. True visual or your partner may notice), like irregular clinical deaths known to date." While there are
and auditory hallucinations during sleep breathing while sleeping or waking up gasping some terrifying cultural explanations around the
paralysis are relatively rare, according to Breus, for air, which could actually be an undiagnosed world, these are constructed to make sense of a
but many patients report feeling an undeniably sleep disorder. very mysterious condition.
strange or scary presence in the room. "The biggest thing is to educate people
Plus, sleep paralysis is just super 9. But really, there is no definitive cause. to not be afraid," says Breus. "In all likelihood,
frightening to begin with, so it often triggers a Stress, depression, certain prescription they just need more rest. If they get enough sleep
panicked response with increased heart rate. medications, and, more recently, an inherited and the episodes continue with any regularity,
"People freak out because they can't move, and gene have all been linked to sleep paralysis, then they should go to a sleep disorder
it's this extreme anxiety which causes people to Breus tells us. But while research shows specialist." []