Imagine it – you wake up but you can’t move. There’s a heavy weight on your chest, and you feel panic setting in. somewhere nearby, a shadowy figure is watching you, maybe even close enough to lean over you. You’re heart races, but you can’t scream, you can’t run, and you can barely breathe. What feels like hours is merely seconds, but you finally manage to shift your body, raise a limb, and the nightmarish episode ends.
If it sounds like something out of a horror movie, it’s because the condition known as sleep paralysis has become the basis for a number of scary cinema features recently. But the truth is, this condition is far more terrifying in real life than it is on screen because it’s actually happening to you. Sleep paralysis is more common than you might think, and it comes with several symptoms, but more importantly, it is sometimes related to other underlying conditions. Here, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about sleep paralysis, including ways you can help relieve it.
General Sleep Disorders
In the past, sleep disorders were often catalogued and grouped together, treated similarly, or even generally ignored. But with the growing prevalence of sleep disorders found in people today, medical professionals and psychologists have all started to take them more seriously, with interest sparking in the wide variety of conditions and the underlying causes. This includes insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and sleep paralysis, just to name a few of the most severe disorders.
Most sleep disorders are known as parasomnias, or events that come with sleep that are undesired. Through research, scientists and doctors have identified specific groups of people at high risk for these sleep disorders. For example, obese people and those with excess flesh in the throat are more likely to suffer from dangerous forms of sleep apnea.
There seems to be a correlation in the time period in which sleep disorders begin to present symptomatically. Most commonly, the teen years are the time when the first experiences with sleep paralysis come into play, much as with insomnia and other sleep disorders. Of course, these formative years are also often the origin of diagnosis for other conditions, especially those considered to be psychological, including anxiety and depression. Of course, this isn’t exactly something you grow out of naturally, and it takes time to figure out how to control or remove the problem.
But in order to understand where the danger may lie when it comes to sleep paralysis, it’s necessary to understand the condition itself.
What is Sleep Paralysis?
Sleep paralysis is a condition in which you find yourself unable to move some or all of your body parts, most often involving the limbs, head, and neck. There are two types of sleep paralysis – hypnagogic or predormital, occurring as you’re falling asleep and hypnopompic or postdormital, happening when you start to wake up. Both can be terrifying, and the disorder, when chronic, can cause some significant psychological damage.
But if you are experiencing this issue, it’s important to know that you’re not alone. It can happen to anyone, and specialists estimate that at least 8 percent of people will suffer from sleep paralysis occasionally, and many of those will experience chronic problems. What’s behind this strange phenomenon?
Brain Function
It all starts with a function of sleep. Consider that, if you spent a lot of time moving around while you slept, the quality of your rest would be lacking, much as it is on nights you toss and turn a lot. Therefore, while you’re sleeping, the brain induces atonia, which is a state of dormancy. It keeps your body more relaxed and even somewhat inhibits motion.
However, in sleep paralysis, your brain is either enacting this state too early or holding onto it too long, depending on whether it occurs before or after sleep. This leaves your body paralyzed until you can find a normal homeostasis, which typically takes only a few seconds. It’s been found that some sleep paralysis is related to narcolepsy, and in these cases, it’s much more difficult to control, since you first have to treat the underlying condition. However, the significant portion of sufferers have isolated sleep paralysis, meaning they don’t have signs or symptoms of narcolepsy or other serious conditions.
Potential Experiences
For some, sleep paralysis is mild. The arms and legs may be rendered motionless for a few seconds, after which the body reconciles itself to the proper state of wakefulness. However, some episodes are more severe. You may experience paralysis of the arms, head, legs, body, and neck, and while most incidents are only seconds long, they can potentially last several minutes. In some cases, you may experience hallucinations, the likes of which have inspired recent horror movies to play off a supernatural aspect of sleep paralysis.
Regardless of how mild or severe, sleep paralysis often causes a range of psychological issues for those suffering the disorder. Anxiety is a common long term disorder that can develop. In addition, chronic fear and even PTSD can develop, leading to complications such as induced insomnia and severe lack of sleep.
There are ways to both treat and prevent sleep paralysis, but first, you should identify the risk factors that increase likelihood of experiencing the phenomenon.
Risk Factors
While sleep paralysis is indiscriminant and can literally plague anyone at any time, there are some risk factors that make it more likely you’ll experience the effects of this disorder. Those with narcolepsy, insomnia, and other sleep disorders that result in frequently waking during the night are much more likely to experience sleep paralysis, since it is a condition that arises with waking up and falling asleep. Another commonality many who have this frightening condition share is shift work. Because shift work goes against the body’s typical circadian rhythm and is associated heavily with sleep disruption and sleep depravity, many shift workers are more liable to experience sleep paralysis.
Other essential risk factors that should be considered include:
Having significant sleep loss due to insomnia can result in little blackouts throughout the day, during which your brain goes instantly into REM sleep. This is similar to what happens in narcolepsy, and it leads to both a condition of ‘wakeful dreaming’ as well as temporary paralysis.
As discussed above, frequent and sudden sleep disruption can lead to problems with sleep paralysis. A 2002 study had patients purposely awoken during their REM cycle, which induced sleep paralysis. When awoken, these patients completely bypassed the other stages of sleep and went straight to REM sleep, which then caused the temporary paralysis.
If you’ve experienced certain traumatic life events that have caused you to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or if you suffer from some kind of panic disorder, you may have a significantly higher risk of experiencing sleep paralysis. These particular conditions can heighten physiological arousal, which then can lead to sleep paralysis.
Consider that, much like PTSD and panic disorders, these conditions can affect the state of physiological arousal. More than 20 percent of patients who had some kind of anxiety disorder experienced sleep paralysis based on anxiety-induced sleep disturbances in a 2006 study. In the same vein, a 2007 study linked untreated depression to elevated levels of sleep disturbance, insomnia, and excessive tiredness. All of this added up to discovering that patients with depression and bipolar disorder are more prone to sleep paralysis as well.
Several medications have side effects that include mimicking sleep disorders, such as causing insomnia. A great many of these prescription drugs have also been linked to sleep paralysis, the most commonly recognized being those used to help control ADHD. Of course, it would follow suit that the use of illicit drugs or even the abuse of prescription drugs or other substances can lead to problems with this disorder.
Because this condition causes spasms to course through your legs, this along with other ailments that can cause severe cramps or twitches are certain to disrupt your sleep. Since frequent sleep disruption is linked to sleep paralysis based on interrupting the REM cycle frequently, it’s obviously a high risk factor for experiencing episodes of sleep paralysis.
How you sleep can definitely have an impact on the likelihood of experiencing sleep paralysis. Studies have led to the conclusion that back sleepers are more likely to suffer from the condition. Back sleepers are more prone to sleep apnea, which causes frequent and sudden waking. Back sleepers are also resting in a position that is more conducive to paralysis, increasing the risk.
Believe it or not, issues with sleep paralysis may be built into your genetic makeup. Doctors have studied identical and fraternal twins, as well as other siblings, and they have discovered that your genetic makeup may cause you to be predisposed to suffering from sleep paralysis – and perhaps even other sleep disorders.
The Dangers of Untreated or Undiagnosed Sleep Paralysis
Technically, there’s no real physical danger associated with sleep paralysis. However, you may suffer physically from loss of sleep due to the underlying condition or even the anxiety of the experience. Sleep deprivation then leads to excessive tiredness. Being sleepy all the time, however, does have detriments that are derived from the episodes of sleep paralysis. You are less alert, which makes you more prone to accidents, your appetite may wan or increase, and you could experience mood swings.
More important are the psychological impacts suffered by those who have sleep paralysis disorder. Lack of sleep itself can be damaging to the psyche, and the fear experienced during the episodes can lead to anxiety. Anxiety will keep you awake, continuing the cycle, and what’s worse, could become a chronic disorder that stays with you all the time. Other common symptoms include chronic discomfort or, more concerning, paranoia and PTSD.
It’s important to diagnose and address the disorder as soon as possible to avoid long term damage to the mind. Speaking with a medical professional could also uncover another underlying condition that’s leading to frequent or regular bouts with sleep paralysis and treat these issues.
How Sleep Paralysis Episodes are Described
There are three major commonalities among sufferers of sleep paralysis when it comes to hallucinating. You’ll find that almost everyone describes one of these as occurring during an episode.
• The Incubus
Perhaps the oldest myth still pervasive in the description of sleep paralysis related hallucinations is that of the ‘incubus’. Some feel that they are being held down, trapped and unable to move from their spot. This dates back to ancient terror often equated with spiritual beliefs. In the tales that go back many centuries, women are tormented in their sleep by a male demo – an incubus – and males are confronted by the female equivalent, the succubus. These attacks produce intense fear, and the folklore stems from multiple cultures over the centuries. In fact, several movies have incorporated the theme, the most popular of which is the series of A Nightmare on Elm Street movies and the creation of Freddy Krueger.
• Vestibular motor sensation
These are perhaps the most common effects of sleep paralysis. To be completely honest, many people experience these sensations even without being victims of the more serious phenomenon. The description is that you feel like you are floating, flying, spinning, or falling – the last being the most common and usually leading to the dreamer being jerked awake. During sleep paralysis, these sensations become much more realistic, to the point of being terrifying because you can’t move and have no way to ‘catch’ yourself and remove yourself from the perceived danger.
• The Intruder
Of the three issues most regularly described as a part of a sleep paralysis episode, this is almost always the most frightening. There is the feeling of being watched, but you can’t move to see what’s lurking in the corner of your vision. Or, you might see some sort of shadow in the room that creates a ‘presence’. Often, the intruder is leaning over you, standing close enough to be threatening, and it might even have a face. Or worse, it won’t have a face. You may experience auditory hallucinations – imagined sounds – that have the intruder speaking to you. It is all very realistic an disturbing, and rightfully so, since it feels like an invasion of privacy or even a home invasion. This particular part of an episode can linger in your subconscious for hours or days because of the real possibility of someone breaking into your home and lead to major anxiety.
Determining Your Condition
Diagnosing sleep paralysis isn’t particularly complex. Because the symptoms are pretty self-explanatory, as long as someone can identify the symptoms – including you – it’s fairly simple to conjecture the presence of the disorder. However, self-diagnosis isn’t recommended. If you’ve identified the belief that you’re suffering from sleep paralysis, you should consult a doctor.
If you’re experiencing one or more of the following for several seconds or longer, it’s probably time to speak to your physician about it:
- Inability to speak when falling asleep or waking up, despite efforts or desire to do so
- Inability to move when falling asleep or waking up
- Feelings of panic, fear, or anxiety while falling asleep or waking up
- Visual and/or auditory hallucinations during the moments before falling asleep or while waking up
It is especially vital to see your doctor if the condition is causing prolonged anxiety during the day, loss of sleep, excess tiredness or exhaustion, or other symptoms plaguing you related to lack of sleep.o be treated.
Once you’ve spoke to a physician, describing your symptoms in detail, he may ask you to do one of three things. You may be asked to keep a sleep journal, cataloguing instances of episodes for several weeks and the surrounding circumstances, as well as the symptoms experienced. If the doctor feels it’s out of his realm of expertise or is a serious issue, he may refer you to a sleep specialist for a consultation and plan of action. He may also choose to have you participate in an overnight sleep study, during which your sleep habits can be observed and the onset of sleep paralysis can be diagnosed and recorded. The latter may also help identify if there is another underlying cause that is leading to episodes of sleep paralysis which may need to be treated.
How to Prevent Sleep Paralysis
There is no guarantee you’ll ever be able to remove episodes of sleep paralysis entirely from your life. In fact, if your disorder is caused by another underlying problem, it may flare up from time to time and continue to cause problems. However, there are some steps you can take to reduce the onset of the condition and minimize the frequency of episodes.
1. Get more sleep.
While the necessary amount of sleep for the average adult can vary anywhere from five to ten hours a night, seven is about average. Making sure you find the optimal amount of sleep and assuring you do what it takes to get it are essential to helping your body and mind stay healthy and work appropriately, reducing the frequency of sleep paralysis.
2. Create a routine.
Having a bedtime routine can really help you get to bed on time, fall asleep comfortably, and sleep through the night without being interrupted by episodes of sleep paralysis. Consider reading before going to bed or taking a hot bath or shower to relax your mind and body. Once you’ve created the ritual, stick to it so that your circadian rhythm stays adjusted to it. This is especially essential if you work an irregular or swing shift so that you can literally reset your clock and get yourself used to that schedule.
3. Make your surroundings conducive to sleep.
Having the right bedding, the appropriate mattress for your preferred sleep position and firmness, a cool sleep environment, and a lack of distractions can make it much easier to fall into a normal sleep cycle. That means you should not have your phone or laptop in bed, since the backlight has the same effect as sunlight on keeping you awake. Your sleep space should be used for nothing but sleeping in order to put yourself in the right frame of mind every time you lie down.
4. Avoid late meals and exercise.
Exercising earlier in the day can actually improve comfortable, restful sleep, keeping your body calculating the right circadian rhythm and also using up excess energy. However, exercising close to bedtime will have endorphins flowing, keeping you awake and letting you fall asleep in an agitated state that can easily lead to waking up suddenly with a bout of sleep paralysis. Also, eating less than three hours before bedtime, you may have digestive issues that will wake you with a start, creating an onset of the symptoms of sleep paralysis.
5. Don’t encourage endorphins.
That means avoiding things like caffeine, chocolate, and other things that stimulate the pleasure receptors. An overabundance of endorphins when you go to bed could send you straight past Go, but you won’t collect $200, just a world of hurt. You’ll skip through the regular sleep cycle and go straight into REM sleep, almost guaranteeing an episode of sleep paralysis to follow.
There are other things you can do at home as well to keep the effects of sleep paralysis at bay. Try some of the herbal remedies available that promote a standard sleep routine and help relax your mind to the point it no longer doggedly pursues the idea of breaking the cycle of sleep.
• Valerian root
is perhaps one of the best options, as a mild sedative that will help you fall and stay asleep. However, as with all over the counter options, you should be cautious about use, avoiding it if you are on certain medications already. If you choose to use valerian root to help avoid sleep paralysis, it should be a temporary solution and taken in moderation to avoid side effects like overly vivid dreams and some grogginess.
• You might also benefit from the use of passionflower
As an excellent way to reduce high blood pressure and anxiety that are likely causes – and side effects – of sleep paralysis. If you’re already on blood pressure medication or are pregnant, you may want to step aside, and it’s always a good idea to contact your physician to see if it’s the right solution for you.
• Chamomile
Is an excellent anxiety reducer that will relax you into an easy, peaceful sleep. It’s important, though, to keep in mind that chamomile can react negatively with certain medications, including diabetes medications, blood thinners, sedatives, and blood pressure medications.
• Massaging some lavender essential oil
Into your hands and wrists can be incredibly relaxing and comforting, and the scent will help lure you into easy slumber gently, so that you fall into the correct sleep cycle. For easier spreading and better absorption, you should probably mix the essential oil into some almond or coconut oil. Be sure to inhale the aroma for a few minutes before going to bed for best results.
• Lemon balm
Can also work, especially in conjunction with the administration of valerian root and chamomile. However, this is not a good solution if you are pregnant or have an overactive thyroid, so you should talk to your doctor about other health conditions prior to use.
When You Can’t Avoid It
You can do everything right and still run into the problem of sleep paralysis from time to time, especially if it’s been a chronic disorder for you for a long period of time or is related to another underlying condition that may flare up every so often. But there are ways to fight the effects and snap out of it faster and with less damage to your psyche over time.
Surrender.
With that feeling of not being able to move or being held down, the instinctive response is to struggle against it, which only causes greater panic and more difficulty recovering. In the event you feel trapped and held down into the mattress, you should ‘give into’ the pressure you feel, as if you’re sinking into the bed rather than trying to fight and resist the pressure. This will help you be able to regulate your breathing, which is a major first step in resolving the paralysis onset. During the worst moments, remind yourself over and over (silently if necessary) that this isn’t reality, just the end of a dream or a little bit of a malfunction as you fall asleep.
Work on your breathing.
While it may seem like you’re having difficulty breathing during an episode of sleep paralysis, this is all in your head, usually due to panic. The condition can freeze your voluntary reflexes – meaning you can’t move your legs, arms, head, neck, and other extremities. However, your lungs continue to function because breathing is involuntary and continues despite the other issues. So, if you focus on breathing and concentrate on the fact that you are still alive and not constricted, your terror will ease, and you’re regain control of other factors – your heart rate, your state of mind, and eventually, your mobility.
Make noise.
This may seem difficult, especially if your throat locks up on you. And it may also not be of concern if you don’t have a sleep partner. However, your lungs, which cannot be controlled by sleep paralysis, can assist you in making very specific noises that might yank you into consciousness or could alert your partner of the problem. Your partner could help you break out of the perceived prison.
Make small movements.
You’re probably shaking your head, thinking you can’t possibly do that if you’re paralyzed. However, with the concentration of the pressure focused on larger areas of the body such as your chest, head, and shoulders, you may find that you can twitch your fingers. Making this effort can alert your brain to your wakefulness, thus ending the production of the chemical that induces the paralysis so that you can start moving again.
Have a safe word.
If you are able to speak during sleep paralysis, as some are, you can work out a word you can get out to alert your partner to the problem at hand. Something simple like ‘help’ might be the best option, but whatever you come up with that you can get through your lips loudly enough to wake your partner will work. In fact, simply forcing the word from your mouth at some volume could snap you back to reality and end the session of sleep paralysis.
The Bottom Line
Sleep paralysis has definitely earned its place in horror flicks due to its disconcerting sensation and the absolute terror it can cause. And because it affects millions of people throughout the world, many suffer from the vicious cycle – loss of sleep inducing more episodes of paralysis, which lead to greater sleep deprivation. It’s important to understand the risk factors that make it more likely you’ll experience sleep paralysis so you can work to avoid the worst of them.
You should have anxiety disorders and other sleep disorders diagnosed and treated to assure these aren’t leading to sleep paralysis, and you should do your best to get plenty of sleep so that losing an hour or so now and then due to recurrence won’t be detrimental to your health. Try using meditation to help you stay relaxed, releasing anxiety, so that you can get better, fuller sleep.
Especially if you’re a shift worker, you should make sure you have a routine and a sleep pattern, as well as a comfortable sleep environment, altering nothing on the days you have off. Changing your schedule up so frequently will make it more likely for you to wake suddenly or cut your REM cycle short. When you can’t avoid an episode of sleep paralysis, try to incorporate breathing exercises that remind you that you and no one else are in control of your body. Attempt small movements that will snap you out of the semi-conscious state to end the terror.
Most of all, don’t let the condition go undiagnosed. There could be larger underlying issues needing correction, and it could benefit you greatly to keep a sleep journal or participate in a study. Speak to your physician about the circumstances of the episodes, the symptoms, and the results that are plaguing you through the day. You aren’t alone, and sleep paralysis is taken seriously by professionals, so you can assure you’ll get something out of a discussion with a medical professional.