The Origin Of Sleep Paralysis

Catherine Valente remembers clearly about her terrifying experience. It was around 3 in the morning when she woke up in the middle of the night, she saw an old woman figure with long white dress, long black hair, and awfully long nails sitting on her chest. She felt like as if she’s paralyzed. She couldn’t move a muscle or even open her mouth to scream. She laid there unable to move for at least 15 minutes. Have you ever had the same experience like Catherine, felt like you were awake but had some difficulty to move your body? You might have even felt petrified but could not call for help? This weird phenomenon is called Sleep Paralysis.

According to the history, Sleep Paralysis was classified as nightmare, a term that evolved into our modern definition by Samuel Johnson. It was widely considered to be the work of the demons, which were thought to sit on the chest of the sleeper. Various forms of magic and spiritual possession were also advanced as causes. But Sleep Paralysis can occur in the state between REM sleep, where dreaming occurs, and waking up. During REM sleep, the brain paralyses the body in order to keep us away from carrying out our dream-actions that could harm ourselves somehow. At times, our brain does not put off these dreams or the paralysis that comes along with them, resulting in a potentially terrifying experience. Sleep paralysis had been linked to disorders such as migraines, anxiety disorders, and obstructive sleep apnea. But when linked to another disorder, sleep paralysis commonly occurs together with the neurological sleep disorder called Narcolepsy. David McCarty, a sleep researcher at Louisiana State Health University, explained that in sleep paralysis, two of the key REM sleep components are presen...

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...e best advice that can be done is to have a regular healthy sleeping pattern with strict times of going to bed and waking up. But to some people, this may be quite hard to adopt as they might have work commitments. So the best thing to do when sleep paralysis attacks is to end it by breaking the paralysis, which can be done naturally or by being shaken awake by a sleeping partner. Here are some popular tips to cope with sleep paralysis attacks:

1. Many people found out that they can reduce the chances of getting sleep paralysis attacks when they sleep on their side.

2. Staying calm when experiencing sleep paralysis is the most important thing to remember, by trying to relax and breathe normally can reduce the length and intensity of an attack.

3. To break the paralysis and end an attack, one must concentrate intensely on moving one small muscle, for example a finger.