It's 3:30 pm, and it is really hot outside. After a long day of errands and driving, I'm exhausted so I crawl up to my room and throw my clothes into a pile and climb into bed. A few minutes go by and my pulse has slowed to a rhythmic thumping that is almost in sync with the second-hand ticking, of the alarm clock right beside my ear. I let out a long sigh of sleepy relief at finally having found time for rest. My eyes blink really quickly, but then slow considerably to a close. My face turns itself, almost as if on autopilot, to the cold part of the pillow, and I soon after fall asleep. What feels like mere seconds have gone by and i'm awake again. Or at least...I think I am. It's weird because I can't open my eyes, but I can hear my parents talking downstairs. I know for certain now that I am awake, but I have absolutely no control over my body. It is almost as if I have been trapped in a sarcophagus that is my own body, and my screams for help echo within my own head. No one can hear me. What's worse, my body has suddenly decided to give me full control of my breathing. But I can't even open my eyelids...how can I control my diaphragm? I feel myself suffocating now, my breaths becoming more distant and more strained. My attention shifts gears again because I hear my dad coming up the stairs and approaching. HELP! No one answers. He walks towards me...surely he'll tap my leg or say my name...and my mind will reboot its system and i'll break free of my prison. But I am awake, and he doesn't say anything. Instead, he walks behind my bed, and examines the painting job we've done yesterday. I can hear him inspecting, I can practically see him from outside of my body. Perhaps if I can just concentrate on moving my fingers, he'll see i'm actually awake and talk to me. Seconds pass to no avail. I'm feeling hopeless and ready to succumb, when for no apparent reason, air starts pouring into my lungs. I spring awake and my whole body lashes around like fish out of water. I inhale as though I have been holding my breath for years. I am finally awake, but my body is exhausted. I take one look at my bed, terrified of falling back asleep, and try to forget it ever happened. What I haven't told you yet is that this really happens and it isn't the first time this has happened. And sometimes, it isn't my dad walking nearby. At best, it is reality occurring around me. At worst, it is a nightmare or hallucination and I am a helpless victim at the brink of death.
Doctors have named this condition appropriately as sleep paralysis. In the 1700s, sleep paralysis was perceived as a demonic visitation. Here is a wikipedia synopsis for sleep paralysis, which summarizes it infinitely better than I ever could. But since it doesn't offer any full examples, I thought I'd offer one of which happened to me today. It is terrifying, but it comes and goes. Ironically, the webmd treatment is to sleep more.
"Physiologically, sleep paralysis is closely related to REM atonia, the paralysis that occurs as a natural part of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Sleep paralysis occurs either when falling asleep, or when awakening. When it occurs upon falling asleep, the person remains aware while the body shuts down for REM sleep, and it is called hypnagogic or predormital sleep paralysis. When it occurs upon awakening, the person becomes aware before the REM cycle is complete, and it is called hypnopompic or postdormital.
The paralysis can last from several seconds to several minutes "by which the individual may experience panic symptoms".[6] (described below) As the correlation with REM sleep suggests, the paralysis is not entirely complete; use of EOG traces shows that eye movement is still possible during such episodes. When there is an absence of narcolepsy, sleep paralysis is referred to as isolated sleep paralysis (ISP).
In addition, the paralysis may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations (hypnopompic or hypnagogic) and an acute sense of danger. Sleep paralysis is particularly frightening to the individual because of the vividness of such hallucinations. The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful or dream-like objects may appear in the room alongside one's normal vision. Some scientists have proposed this condition as an explanation for alien abductions and ghostly encounters. A study by Susan Blackmore and Marcus Cox (the Blackmore-Cox study) of the University of the West of England supports the suggestion that reports of alien abductions are related to sleep paralysis rather than to temporal lobe lability. Some authors have warned of the possible misconnection between child sexual abuse (CSA) and hypnagogic/pompic phenomena and have noted that some clients after having described such an event to a fortune teller or psychic that the psychic may have suggested CSA."
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