Imagine: you woke up in the middle of the night from what unknown creature grabs you by the throat. Horrified you try to lose, to run, to scream, but your body is paralyzed and all you can do is wait for his own death. Horror? How! This is sleep paralysis – a disorder that at least once in their lifetime experienced 7% of people.
Guilty ghosts?
In the 18th century Henry Fuseli painted “the nightmare”: a woman sleeps on her back and on her bosom sits the demon. Gogol ‘s story “the Portrait” described the classic manifestations of sleep paralysis: “Chartkov tried to cry out, and felt that he had no voice, tried to move, to make some kind of movement – do not move the members. With an open mouth and stilled breath as he looked at this terrible phantom is tall, some wide Asian robes, and waited to see what he will do…”
The nature of this disorder, people have tried to explain a very long time, so around it so many myths about witches, hobgoblins, demons and portals to the underworld.
During sleep paralysis, people don’t just sees a hallucination. He hears, smells, feels skin. If you do not know about the existence of such phenomena, it is almost impossible to distinguish dream from reality.
And yet it is just a hallucination, and its form is almost always dependent upon culture. People in China is “strangling” magical beast, Baize – horned lion, speaking in Chinese. In Russia tell about the meeting with the devil and fairies. Well, if you believe in Mordor, perhaps during sleep paralysis you will be visited by the Orc or Goblin. A couple of years ago the press got a wonderful story: Muscovite raped pokemon. However, the woman, according to her, are unable to speak and numb like, and my husband was sleeping nearby and did not notice anything. And Yes, it happened at the peak of popularity of the game “Pokemon Go”.
Why is this happening?
At the time of REM sleep our brain “disconnects” all the muscles, except those that are responsible for breathing and eye movement. Thanks to this feature, when we dream of monsters and maniacs, we don’t jump out of bed and not run anywhere, crashing into the wall. After waking up these units turn on.
But sometimes the system fails. The man suddenly wakes up, and the signal “enable movement”. Consciousness works and muscles are not. This moment begins the show with the participation of orcs, hobgoblins, and pokémon – they helpfully draws a scared mind.
I feel during sleep paralysis?
In addition to the paralysis and hallucinations, you may experience the following sensations:
- Drowsiness: it is impossible to understand if you were asleep.
- Shaking or vibrating sensation all over my body as if shaking the bed.
- The horror, and it can cause things that don’t in reality. Thunderstorm, for example. There is often forgotten fears from childhood.
- Very realistic sounds and feelings of touch. You can hear conversations, laughter, otherworldly squeaks, the music (sometimes not even existing in reality).
- Effect about presence – it seems that in the room or outside the door someone is there.
- The squeak in his ears. Increases when you try to move.
- Very rare – the feeling of flying, of floating in the air.
- The feeling that you’re dying.
- The inability to breathe due to the fact that someone is sitting on my chest. It may even seem that you are trying to rape some sort of mythical creature.
How does it affect the body?
Sleep paralysis does not cause any health problems. But fright can be bad for people with cardiovascular disease. And yet people out of ignorance may think that he is not all right with the psyche, but if you are reading this article, then this danger no longer threatens you.
How to prevent sleep paralysis?
Special treatment of the disorder requires. Just follow the advice of doctors:
- Get enough sleep.
- Go to bed at the same time.
- Wake up alarm – sleep paralysis may occur only with the natural awakening.
- Exercise – it strengthens the nervous system and develops the relationship between the brain and muscles.
- Avoid stress.
- Relax before bedtime. Tea, hot bath, massage you like.
- Do not work, do not watch TV and use the computer before bed – all this activates the brain.
- Falling asleep, pay attention to feelings-“the harbingers” sleep paralysis: a sensation of falling or vibration. Feel? Change the position of the body.
- Do not sleep on the back. 90% of attacks occur in this position.
What to do if it happens?
Try to relax. Think about what is a harmless phenomenon that you are in no danger and after a maximum of a few moments all over. Breathe, think, read poetry, remember the face of a loved one – in General, do everything to calm down. Most importantly, do not resist and do not try to escape – it can cause a feeling of suffocation, and it will be very scary. Try to move the eyes, tongue, thumb of the right hand (left for lefties). This will help to regain control over the body.
Don’t believe what you see, explain everything logically. Studies say that people with an analytical mind suffer attacks of sleep paralysis quieter than those who believe in the supernatural.
After all is finished, quietly go to bed twice in one night sleep paralysis happens very rarely. If the attacks are repeated regularly, consult a sleep doctor who treats sleep disorders. In the most severe cases, the disorder is treated with antidepressants.