Sleep Paralysis: The Reality

"...I lay there, frozen with most awful fears, not daring to drag away my hand; yet ever thinking that I could but stir it one single inch, the horrid spell would be broken." (Fitzgerald, F. Scott: 1922, The Beautiful and the Damned).

This paper is incomplete


Do you wake up and find you can't move, breathe, or speak? Do you feel dark shadows surrounding your sleeping area right before you drop off into dreamland? Do you see or feel a figure sitting on your chest?

If you do, you might suffer from a sleep disorder.

Important Note: After reading this, if you feel that you suffer from Sleep Paralysis or another problem that MIGHT be caused by SP, please consult your physician. Always consult your doctor on matters of your health. I am not, nor will I ever be, a doctor.

I wanted to know more about my experiences so I started to research. But, before I even started researching, I listed all the things that I thought were wrong with me. Every other night it would happen exactly like this:

I would wake up suddenly but I wouldn't be able to open my eyes. Or most times, my eyes would be open and I would be able to see everything. I could hear everything that was happening. Mom would call to me to wake up because my alarm had been going off for several minutes. That's when I would try to move. I never could move.

I always thought I was dreaming.

Ninety-nine percent of the time my chest felt like it would collapse. I'd start to panic. But I would know that I'd have to breathe and it would always be very hard to do. Slowly, I would try to take one breath in, one breath out, one breath in, one breath out.

After what seems like forever, although in all actuality it's only been about two minutes, I'd finally be able to move.

Sometimes, I'll actually go back to sleep (although now it terrifies me because I'm afraid that I'll never wake up.)

I discovered that my waking nightmares may not have been so imaginary after all. I discovered something called Sleep Paralysis.

I can now say that I suffer from Sleep Paralysis. I can also tell you from experience how terrifying it is. I even wrote a poem about it called "My Hell" That poem, contrary to popular belief, is literally true.

I have an SP episode about once every 3 or 4 days and although most of them are not severe, that doesn't make it any less terrifying. I've discovered that my episodes come mainly when I'm extremely exhausted, stressed, or sleeping in a fetal position. That may not be true for everybody.

Now, there are some people out there who believe that aliens abduct people during this time and I, personally, am not one of them. I do not discount that there may be intelligent life out there but I do not believe they are abducting us. I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but this is part of my opinion and I'm free to express it.

There are many other cultures who have called it other things in the past and some still do. You'll find some cultural references below, which I found at wikipedia.org while searching for Sleep Paralysis.

"In Japan, sleep paralysis is referred to as kanashibari (金縛り, literally: 'bound or fastened in metal': kana: metal, shibaru: to bind, tie, fasten)"

"In Newfoundland, as a visit from the old hag (Ag Rog)"

"In Mexico, as bida del muerto (the dead getting on top)"

"In the Turkish language, as karabasan (black buster) and in Hazaragi, as Syahi Zer Kado (pressing ink)

"In the Southern United States, some people have described it simply as 'The witch riding your back'"

"In Indonesia, the Japanese people called it nindih (To be seated upon)"

"In Philippines, Sleep paralysis is often associated with Bangungot"

"The common belief in China is that a spirit or ghost is sitting or lying on top of the individual while they were sleeping, causing the sleep paralysis. This is thought to be a minor body possession by the forces from the dead, and usually doesn't cause any harm to the victim."

"In medieval times of Europe, attacks of sufferers of sleep paralysis may have given rise to the belief in mara, incubi, succubi, other demons and witchcraft.

"In traditional Russian belief symptoms reminiscent of sleep paralysis were attributed to the anger of domovoi, the home spirit, punishing people for bad husbandship or betrayal.

Other common misinterpreted ailments for Sleep Paralysis are listed as out of body experiences or alien abductions (I've given my opinion at the beginning of this paper.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This condition was not always referred to as Sleep Paralysis or the cultural names that you've seen above. In fact, if you look over the history of it http://www.sleepeval.com/sleep_paralysis.htm , you'll find that it was not given a name in science until almost 1930. A couple of years before Sleep Paralysis was given a name it was linked to narcolepsy. Today, we still associate these two conditions.

Now, Sleep Paralysis, as defined by Florence Cardinal and other qualified professionals, is a "natural bodily function that causes us to be paralyzed during sleep." It is also characterized as hypnopompic paralysis (before waking up) and hypnagogic paralysis (before falling asleep).

It happens during R.E.M. (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep...when we dream. Scientists believe that normal Sleep Paralysis keeps us from acting out our dreams. In other words, it helps to prevent Night Terrors. In fact, these "Night Terrors" are the exact opposite of "Sleep Paralysis"

With SP (sleep paralysis} disorder, if a person wakes up too fast they don't quite come out of REM and are still in their paralyzed state. In short, your mind wakes up before your body does. That is when it becomes a disorder.

Most people associate night terrors with uncontrolled voilence in the night. But night terrors occur when the normal paralysis doesn't kick in. Sleepwalkers often suffer from NT and most times, they don't even realize it because not all NT episodes are violent. Night Terrors are not Sleep Paralysis.


In the following you will find a small list of symptoms, other disorders that can be the cause of or caused by SP, ways to reduce or avoid SP, and some ways to find relief.

Possible Symptoms:

You might have SP if these happen either while entering sleep or waking up:

Inability to move chest, arms, and/or legs

Pressure on chest

Hallucinations

Occasional feelings of an out of body experience

A "struggle" to wake up


Here are some contributing factors to Sleep Paralysis:

Sleeping on your back

Puberty (stressful times during)

Stress and anxiety
Important: A.D.H.D./A.D.D. can actually be considered a contributor to S.P.


Here is a list of some of the possible results of Sleep Paralysis:

Narcolepsy/Insomnia

Bipolar Disorder

Depression

Anxiety/Panic Attacks


The main ways that you might be able to diagnose S.P.:

Personal Experience

Observation by roommates

Sleep Study

But there are also ways to reduce or even avoid recurrences of S.P.:

Reduce the stress in your life. Especially during life altering changes (high school/college graduation, marriage, death in family, job change, etc.)

Sleep in the opposite direction that you do when you experience SP (Example: If you have an S.P. episode while sleeping on your back or right side, try sleeping on your stomach or left side)

Exercise...but not right before bedtime.

Know that you are not alone.

Relax!!!

Talk to your doctor about what you can do

Find a regular sleep schedule


Ways to find Relief during an attack:

The best thing to do is try and relax!

If you can: will yourself to move a small body part like a finger or toe.

Try to scream. Even if you aren't being heard, it will usually wake you up enough to move a finger or toe,

And hardest of all, overcome the fear of being paralyzed.

I've had a few people ask me if Sleep Paralysis was genetic, because they had family members who suffer from S.P. as well. So, I decided to look into the matter and found that scientists are divided on the issue, as usual. There are some scientists who do believe that it is genetic. But there are others who believe that it, like some mental disorders, is either a psychological problem or, to explain away the reason that mothers and children experience it, they blame it on the environment and a child's upbringing. I couldn't find any conclusions on the subject and it looks like there won't be a conclusion anytime soon. I'm not sure where I stand on the issue.

I know there are others out there just like me and many of them suffer in silence because they feel they are alone. Please, I beg of you to remember that you are not alone.

I'm here for anyone to talk if you feel you need to. I will continue to research the subject of Sleep Paralysis because the more you know, the more you know you don't know....and I like to know everything so I'm going to find out.

I hope I will update this paper with statistics on a regular basis but sometimes facts are hard to find and must be distinguished from theories or 'wild hairs.' Please check back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I will continue to research. If there's anything that you have found and would like me to research to add to this paper, please email me. It would be much better if you researched it on your own or with your doctor because only YOU know your body and your mind. Don't let anyone discourage you if you think you need help with something.


Here is a list of some of my sources, so far:

http://sleepdisorders.about.com (and all the links listed there)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

http://www.diseasedirectory.com

http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P2.html#pp

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/Art.asp?ArticleKey=9806

http://www.dreamsnightmares.com/sleepparalysis.html

http://www.trionica.com

http://www.sleepeval.com/sleep_paralysis.htm

http://www.geocities.com/jorgeconesa/Paralysis/sleepnew.html
This page also has poetry by Jorge Conesa
This is the best site to visit if you are looking for more information through books. It lets you know which books are best to read to arm yourself with information about Sleep Paralysis and the different ways it might come about.


More to come