STATISTICS ABOUT SLEEP PARALYSIS THAT MAKE IT SCARY

VARIOUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT WHEN

YOU SLEEP ON YOUR BACK YOU’RE MORE

LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE SLEEP PARALYSIS

USERS OF ANXIOLYTIC MEDICATION (MEDICATIONS

TO CONTROL ANXIETY) ARE NEARLY FIVE TIMES

AS LIKELY TO REPORT SP

DURING AN INTERVIEW KURT COBAIN (LEAD SINGER

OF NIRVANA) ONCE CLAIMED HE SUFFERED FROM

BOTH SLEEP PARALYSIS AND NARCOLEPSY

THE FIRST RECORDED CASES OF SLEEP PARALYSIS

CAN BE FOUND IN PERSIAN MEDICAL TEXTS

GOING BACK TO THE TENTH CENTURY. THE FIRST

CLINICAL OBSERVATION WAS MADE BY A

DUTCH PHYSICIAN IN 1664 WHO DIAGNOSED A

FIFTY YEAR OLD WOMAN WITH “NIGHTMARES.”

IT WAS BELIEVED TO BE CAUSED BY DEMONS

OR POSSESSION UNTIL THE NINETEENTH CENTURY,

WHEN IT WAS TERMED “SLEEP PALSY” AND

EVENTUALLY “SLEEP PARALYSIS” IN MEDICAL TEXTS

SOME SCEPTICS ALSO SUGGEST THAT SP AND

THE HALLUCINATIONS THAT ACCOMPANY

THEM, WHICH ARE USUALLY OUT OF

CULTURAL NARRATIVES, COULD SCIENTIFICALLY

EXPLAIN WHAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE DESCRIBED

AS DEMONS SITTING ON THEIR CHESTS WHILE

SLEEPING OR DURING A RELIGIOUS “VISION.”

THE SWISS PAINTER HENRY FUSELI’S THE NIGHTMARE

IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY THE

GROWING INTEREST IN SLEEP PARALYSIS AMONG

DOCTORS AT THE TIME. THE SCARY LITTLE MONSTER

MAY REPRESENT THE SENSATION OF CHEST PRESSURE

THAT SP SUFFERERS OFTEN MENTION AS A SYMPTOM

ACCORDING TO A 2005 STUDY PUBLISHED BY THE

US NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE AT THE

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, SOME

SCIENTISTS SPECULATE THAT SLEEP PARALYSIS

IS THE REASON SOME INDIVIDUALS BELIEVE

THEY’VE BEEN ABDUCTED BY ALIENS WHO

SEEMINGLY MATERIALIZE IN THEIR ROOM DESPITE

DOORS AND WINDOWS BEING LOCKED

IN THE 1940’S SOME SCIENTISTS BELIEVED WAKING

UP TO BE A TIME OF SEXUAL AROUSAL AND THAT,

THEREFORE, SLEEP PARALYSIS OCCURRED TO

REPRESS THE LIBIDINOUS DRIVE