FACTS ABOUT SLEEP PARALYSIS THAT MAKE IT SCARY

SLEEP PARALYSIS IS A FEELING OF BEING CONSCIOUS

BUT UNABLE TO MOVE. IT OCCURS WHEN A PERSON

PASSES BETWEEN STAGES OF WAKEFULNESS AND

SLEEP. DURING THESE TRANSITIONS YOU MAY BE

UNABLE TO MOVE OR SPEAK FOR A FEW SECONDS UP

TO A FEW MINUTES

MANY SUFFERERS DESCRIBE SLEEP PARALYSIS LIKE

THEY HAVE WOKEN UP DEAD. THEY SUGGEST THAT

YOUR MIND WAKES UP BUT YOUR BODY DOESN’T, SO

YOU ESSENTIALLY FEEL TRAPPED INSIDE YOUR BODY

AND UNABLE TO MOVE

ACCORDING TO SCIENCE THERE ARE TWO TYPES

OF SLEEP PARALYSIS: ISOLATED SLEEP PARALYSIS,

OR ISP, WHERE SUFFERERS WILL EXPERIENCE SLEEP

PARALYSIS ONCE OR TWICE IN THEIR LIVES, AND

RECURRENT ISOLATED SLEEP PARALYSIS, OR RISP,

WHERE A PERSON WILL EXPERIENCE SEVERAL EPISODES

DURING THEIR LIFETIME

RISP IS MORE INTENSE BECAUSE IT CAN LAST UP TO AN

HOUR AND IT CAN BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN OUT-OF-BODY

EXPERIENCE

MOST PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FROM SLEEP PARALYSIS

HAVE SAID THEY FEEL LIKE SOMETHING OR

SOMEONE IS IN THE ROOM WITH THEM (DURING AN

EPISODE) OR LIKE THEY HAVE ACTUALLY SEEN OR

HEARD SOMETHING AS WELL. PRETTY SCARY

EXPERIENCE NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT

SLEEP PARALYSIS OCCURS TWICE AS OFTEN TO

MEN THAN WOMEN

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT SP IS LESS COMMON IN

THE GENERAL POPULATION THAN WAS PREVIOUSLY

THOUGHT. A 1999 STUDY IN GERMANY INDICATED

THAT THE DISORDER IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH

A MENTAL DISORDER

THE BAD NEWS, HOWEVER, IS THAT WHEN SP OCCURS

YOU CAN’T WAKE YOURSELF UP. YOU MIGHT BE

ABLE TO MOVE YOUR TOES OR DO FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

BUT YOU CAN’T FULLY WAKE UP AND UNFORTUNATELY

YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT IT OUT

MANY PEOPLE WRONGLY CONNECT SLEEP PARALYSIS

WITH NIGHT TERRORS WHEN IN REALITY THEY ARE

COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER. A

NIGHT TERROR IS A SLEEP DISRUPTION THAT SEEMS

SIMILAR TO A NIGHTMARE, BUT WITH A FAR MORE

DRAMATIC PRESENTATION