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Sleeping Problems (Home) > Types of Sleeping Disorders > Sleep Paralysis

Sleep Paralysis: Information, Symptoms and Causes

Sleep Paralysis is a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body either shortly before falling asleep or shortly after waking up. If the paralysis occurs shortly after waking up, which is the most common form of sleep paralysis, then this is known as Hypnopompic Paralysis. If the paralysis occurs shortly before falling asleep, which is the least common form of sleep paralysis, then this is known as Hypnagogic Paralysis.

In addition, the state of paralysis is usually accompanied by Hypnagogic Hallucinations.

Many scientists believe that many supposed occurrences of alien abduction, out-of-body travel (such as astral traveling), and other seemingly paranormal events (such as religious and demonic visions) are actually due to misinterpreting the sensory effects of Sleep Paralysis.

Physiologically, Sleep Paralysis is closely related to the normal paralysis that occurs during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.

	Random Sleeping Tip
People who are in the habit of resisting their sleep can just lose the normal sleep cycle not only for that night but for weeks because then they would sleep late and would wake up late and this will only be corrected when they would be taking the step of sleeping early one night and then waking up at their regular time. Therefore it is really important that if you are feeling that you need to sleep an hour or two before the regular time then go for it and do not resist.

Sleep Paralysis occurs when the brain is awakened from a REM state into what is essentially a normal, fully awake state, but the bodily paralysis is still in effect. This causes the person to be fully aware, but unable to move.

Sleep Paralysis sufferer's often believe the experience to simply be a dream, and this is a reason why there are so many dream recountings which describe the person lying frozen and unable to move. The hallucinatory element to Sleep Paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as simply a dream, as one might see completely fanciful objects in the room around them along with the normal objects found there.

Symptoms

The primary symptom of Sleep Paralysis are partial or complete skeletal muscle paralysis while conscious during the hypnopompic or hypnagogic states. In other words, Sleep Paralysis is the sense of being aware that one is unable to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up.

Sleep Paralysis is often accompanied by Hypnagogic Hallucinations. These hallucinations can be auditory, tactile, and/or visual.

Each Sleep Paralysis episode may persist anywhere from a few seconds to minutes before the person is able to either return to REM sleep or to become fully awake.

However, the sense of how much time has gone by is often distorted during Sleep Paralysis episodes. People who are fortunate enough to be facing a clock while having an episode tend to be surprised to see how little time has gone by during an episode that seems to last such a long time.

Causes

Little is known about the physiology of Sleep Paralysis.

However, some research suggests that Sleep Paralysis may be linked to post-synaptic inhibition of motor neurons in the pons region of the brain. In particular, low levels of melatonin may stop the depolarization current in the nerves, which prevents the stimulation of the muscles.

There is evidence that a significant proportion of those who suffer from Sleep Paralysis also suffer from Narcolepsy (see section 4.7 Narcolepsy above).

Various research also suggests that most people will experience Sleep Paralysis at least once in their lives.

Research indicates that the following factors may increase the likelihood of both paralysis and hallucinations:

• Sleeping in a supine position (facing upwards)
• Irregular sleeping schedules; naps, sleeping in, sleep deprivation
• Increased stress levels
• Sudden environmental and/or lifestyle changes
• A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode

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