Reality of Sleep Paralysis

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The concept of sleep paralysis is not necessarily a “concept,” it is a reality. I have had this occur to me numerous times for the better part of the past twenty years. What makes this a “concept” is why and how it occurs. I do not believe it is not spoken of enough, and I sincerely believe that more people would be interested in knowing what exactly this condition is.

The conditon known as sleep paralysis is defined as the momentary inability to move one's limbs, trunk and head despite being fully conscious. This can happen while falling asleep (hypogogic sleep) or when waking up (hypnopompic sleep). In my case, hypnopompic sleep is when I suufer this condition. Hypnopompic sleep is when a person becomes aware before REM has finished, and the person will notice that he/she cannot move or speak. It has been stated that during REM sleep, the muscles are paralyzed, preventing the one dreaming from acting out the dream. Certain studies show that the paralysis is likely to occur if a person enters REM sleep immediately after lying down- bypassing non-REM sleep, which happens first (ht...

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