The History Of Sleep Paralysis

Introduction:

The human brain is a complex part of the human body. Our brain holds many of the greatest mysteries of the human functions. Sleep is a very complex thing, something that is not exclusive to humans, but something that is done by all living things. Although not commonly known, even plants sleep. For instance, deciduous trees living in colder climates tend to lose all their leaves and go into a “sleep” like stage where they need minimal nutrients to survive (Borel). However, sleep for humans is far more complex than the sleep of plants. Humans (and other animals, explained in “Do Animals sleep?”) sleep during the night (although it can differ for some), and during the duration of the sleep have dreams (Langley). Through experiments

and extensive studies, we have learned when and how we dream, yet have not figured out why or what the dreams could mean. There are a wide range of types of dreams, from dreams that just seem like a normal day, to night terrors that are outright horrifying. Although it is normal to dream and have night terrors, some of the population on occasions get sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is a condition where a person while drifting into sleep or waking up has a sense of consciousness but cannot move or speak. Sleep paralysis is a greatly researched topic that has been documented for a very long time.
Symptoms of Sleep Paralysis:
Sleep paralysis is not something everyone experiences. Neither is it something that is experienced often, although it may differ for some. Sleep paralysis has a variety of symptoms that may or may not be present. According to an article on Live Science most common symptoms of sleep paralysis include but are not exclusive to (Bradford):
1. State of being awake
a. During the sleep paralysis, you feel as if you were actually awake. You can feel all parts of your body, and can do anything, but move or make sounds.

2. Environment
a. Sleep paralysis creates a very realistic image of the sleeping area, and distinctive things in the room are actually visible to the sleeper.
3. Paralysis
a.

As stated in the name of the condition, the person having the sleep paralysis is unable to move.

Although those are the most common, there are a few more symptoms that are also common. For instance, the article by Dan Dennis suggests that, fear, feeling a “presence” in the room, pressure on the chest, troubles breathing, and usual sensations can also be present in sleep paralysis (Symptoms).

History of Sleep Paralysis:

The history of sleep paralysis is a well-documented one. From the earliest times with written documents and painting that have survived, sleep paralysis has been very much well-documented. One document I found during my research that stood out from the rest is a quote from a Dutch physician named Isbrand Van Diemerbroeck found in an article written by Dan Dennis,

“’…in the night time, when she was composing herself to sleep, sometimes she believed the devil lay upon her and held her down, sometimes that she was choked by a great dog or thief lying upon her breast, so that she could hardly speak or breath and when she endeavored to throw off the burthen, she was not able to stir her members.’

– Citation literal from Van Diemerbroeck, 1689” (Culture and

History)
This quote from the Dutch physician clearly describes the symptoms of a sleep paralysis. The description includes both one and three of the “common” symptoms of sleep paralysis as well as all of the less common symptoms of sleep paralysis. This account shows us how even in the late 1600s, the phenomenon of sleep paralysis was well documented. However, this is not the earliest account of sleep paralysis. According to Dan Dennis’ article, in a Chinese book on dreaming, written around 400BCE, there are accounts of sleep paralysis like symptoms (Culture and History).
Although above I wrote about written documentation of sleep paralysis from the past, but the documentations are also available in a few other mediums.
For instance, folk tales about sleep paralysis have been told in numerously many cultures.

For example, in Korean folk tales, sleep paralysis is described as “getting pressed by a big scissor” (수면마비). In the Korean culture sleep paralysis is often associated with ghosts that are “popular” or more often portrayed in the Asian area. In Korean folk remedies to sleep paralysis, people suggest that one should try to move the parts of the body that is the easiest to move, quite similar to that of western remedies where people suggest in trying to wiggle one’s toes. A suggestion in Korean folk remedies for people having multiple sleep paralyses a night is to sleep with your head where your feet normally go (This can be effective because by changing positions can remove the different things that can cause sleep paralysis, refer to later section, Causes of Sleep Paralysis) (수면마비).

Additionally, the most famous non-written example of sleep paralysis is an artwork, “The Nightmare” (Fuseli). The artwork was made in 1781 by an Anglo-Swiss artist named, Henry Fuseli. The artwork depicts an apelike demon sitting on top of a woman who seems to be deep in her sleep. The apelike demon represented in the painting is a demon from legends known as incubus, who is suggested to engage in sexual activities with the person they are tormenting (Hurd). The position of the demon would explain the chest pains that are often associated with sleep

paralysis.
Although many different caucuses have been suggested in the past, a more scientific approach has been taken to find the true culprit behind the phenomenon we call Sleep Paralysis.

Causes of Sleep Paralysis:
There has been a great deal of research conducted on sleep paralysis and patients who exhibit such phenomenon.
Although scientists cannot say with 100% confidence, scientists have pinned down the part of sleep that seems to cause sleep paralysis. According to the National Health Services, of the United Kingdoms, sleep paralysis is to be caused during the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep phase (Sleep Paralysis - Causes.). Most of the dreaming happens during the REM phase, which explains why sleep paralysis also happens during it. According to the NHS, the paralysis of the sleep paralysis is thought to be the body’s way of preventing it from causing self-harm while acting out the dream (Sleep Paralysis - Causes.). According to the Live Science article, sleep paralysis takes place when one wakes up from REM phase before it is completely finished (Bradford).
Sleep paralysis also has ties to a few other sleep related symptoms as well as characteristics of a person. To list a few that are correlated to sleep paralysis:
1. Insomnia and narcolepsy
a. Sleep paralysis has a strong tie with insomnia due to the greater likelihood of one waking up from a REM phase sleep. Due to this, narcolepsy also has a tie to sleep paralysis. Often times narcoleptic people also have insomnia as well as sleep paralysis (Narcolepsy and Sleep).
2. Sleep deprivation
a. Sleep deprivation has strong ties to sleep paralysis. According to a specialist from an interview on Live Science, “Sleep paralysis can be can be a sign that you’re sleep deprived” (Bradford).
3. Age
a. According to the NHS, sleep paralysis is more common in younger people (Causes).
4. Family history
a. According to the NHS, although it’s not yet studied enough, it is thought to be that sleep paralysis can be genetic (Causes).
5. Anxiety and depression
a. Listed in the article written by Dan Dennis, during a study conducted during 2006 it was found that approximately 20% of patients diagnosed with an anxiety disorder were also suffering from sleep paralysis. They believed that this was correlated to the sleep disturbances that are often caused by such anxieties. Another study that was done in 2005 showed that people with higher levels of anxiety were more likely to see figures or to have hallucinations in their sleep paralysis (Risk Factors).
As shown above sleep paralysis is a complex phenomenon with many causes and correlations to other sleep related symptoms.
Different Explanations:
Over the course of history people have come up with many reasons as to why people suffer from sleep paralysis. Down below are two most interesting arguments on what causes sleep paralyses:
1. Demons
a. As explained in the history of sleep paralysis section, in the past, people believed that sleep paralysis was caused by demons that played or tormented with the bodies of the people affected by it.
2. Aliens (My favorite)
a. There have been cases where people argued they were abducted by aliens when in truth they were just going through a sleep paralysis.
b. In an article written by Susan Blackmore in 1998, it is said that there were more than four million claims of abduction by aliens. In the sub-section of “The Sleep-Paralysis Experience”, the writer explains
“In a typical sleep-paralysis episode, a person wakes up paralyzed, senses a presence in the room, feels fear or even terror, and may hear buzzing and humming noises or see strange lights. A visible or invisible entity may even sit on their chest, shaking, strangling, or prodding them. … Hypnosis could make the memories of this real experience (but not real abduction) completely convincing” (Blackmore).
Treatment:
Sleep paralysis has very little research done in terms of treatments. Although there are no direct medicinal solutions to sleep paralysis, there are a few suggested treatments for patients with severe sleep paralysis. The United Kingdom NHS or the National Health services suggests three solutions (Sleep Paralysis - Treatment):
1. Changing of sleeping habits
a. Since sleep paralysis is prominent in people with sleep deprivation, changing the sleeping patterns and getting into a regular sleeping pattern can help reducing the likelihood of sleep paralysis.
2. Medication
a. With some severe cases of sleep paralysis, antidepressant medication can be helpful in reducing the frequency and the severity of sleep paralysis.
b. It can take up to two months before the symptoms start to disappear.
c. Downside of this is that there can be many side effects of the medication that may interfere with one’s daily routine.

3. Narcolepsy
a. As stated in the section “Causes of Sleep Paralysis”, narcolepsy can trigger sleep paralysis.
b. Although there is no cure for narcolepsy, there are ways with medication and lifestyle adjustments to reduce the effects it has on your body and sleep routine.
Along with ways to control the frequency of the condition, the article by Dan Dennis suggests these ways to stop sleep paralysis while it is taking place (Treatment):
1. Staying calm
a. By staying calm, one can reduce the length of the attack and or start viewing the attack as objectively as possible.
2. Controlling breathing or making small noises
a. By either holding one’s breath or waking a partner, one can shorten the duration of the sleep paralysis.
3. Moving small parts of the body
a. As suggested in the Korean folk remedies, it is suggested that one should try moving small parts of the body to break the paralysis.
Although there are not many concrete treatment solutions to sleep paralysis, as listed above, there are many suggestions on how to weaken or to decrease the frequency of attacks.
Personal Experience:
Insomnia is something I have struggled with all my life, something I feel I must have gotten from my mother since she also struggles from insomnia.
From as long as I can remember I have experienced sleep paralysis. Although it was not something that happened often, when it did, it was very shocking and memorable. My sleep paralysis has all of the 3 main symptoms of sleep paralysis, and thankfully none of the other symptoms. During my childhood, sleep paralysis happened almost exclusively when I was sick. I suspect that being sick, my body was more prone to waking up during the REM cycle, therefore causing the sleep paralysis. Although I was told sleep paralysis is something I would grow out of, it was not the case.
As I got older the sleep paralysis became more frequent. Nights before big exams or tests, I would suffer from back to back sleep paralysis. For instance, the few nights before my first SATs, I suffered greatly from stress, which caused insomnia, which then caused a series of sleep paralysis. My experience most certainly matches the finding of my research. However, for me there is one more level to the vicious cycle of insomnia and sleep paralysis. Because I am stressed from getting sleep paralysis, it causes a greater insomnia, which causes even more sleep paralyses. Until the stress passes and I get back into a regular pattern of sleep, as suggested in the treatment section, the sleep paralysis continues.
After moving to New York, my sleep paralysis has worsened greatly. Because it is a city that never sleeps, the noises as well as the lights never stop. Every time an ambulance or a police car passes with its sirens on I am quickly awakened. But sometimes, instead of being awakened, I go into a state of sleep paralysis, perhaps when I am awakened during my REM sleep phase. Either way, when I am awakened, I struggle to fall back to sleep.
To me sleep paralysis has become a nuisance more than anything. Although when I was younger and they occurred less frequently it was a frightening experience, now that it is something that happens often, it has just become ordinary. For instance, over the course of the last 2 weeks, I have had a few nights with reoccurring sleep paralyses where I decided it would be for the best just not to sleep.
On a positive note, I am very thankful that I do not get any hallucinations during my sleep paralysis. Reading about some of the different hallucinations that occur in the sleep paralyses of others, I fear the effects the frequent sleep paralyses would have had on me with nightmare like hallucinations accompanying it.

Conclusion:
Sleep paralysis is a condition that I have had all my life. The research made me realize both how and why sleep paralysis happens, historical interpretations of sleep paralysis, as well as the effects on it has on other people. Sleep paralysis has made influences in many cultures in all corners of the world. I hope one day that we can find the way to stop sleep paralyses from happening.