DATA ABOUT SLEEP PARALYSIS THAT MAKE IT SCARY

ONE THEORY ON SLEEP PARALYSIS SUGGESTS

THAT THE PHENOMENON IS A RESULT OF REM

SLEEP DISRUPTION WHERE THE BODY IS STILL

IN A STATE OF MUSCLE AT ONIA, WHICH PREVENTS

A DREAMER FROM ACTING OUT THEIR DREAMS

SLEEP PARALYSIS TENDS TO FIRST APPEAR

DURING ADOLESCENCE AND HAPPENS MORE

FREQUENTLY IN YOUR TWENTIES AND THIRTIES.

IT RARELY CONTINUES AFTER THAT TIME

BUT CAN STILL OCCUR

SCIENCE SUGGESTS THAT SLEEP PARALYSIS

CAN BE A SIGN OF A MORE DANGEROUS

SLEEP DISORDER: NARCOLEPSY (A CHRONIC

NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER INVOLVING THE LOSS

OF THE BRAIN’S ABILITY TO REGULATE

SLEEP-WAKE CYCLES NORMALLY)

DREAM EXPERT ROBERT MOSS INTRODUCED

US TO A NEW “KIND” OF SLEEP PARALYSIS:

A TYPICAL SP INCIDENT THAT WAS ALSO

EXTREMELY AND DISTURBINGLY SEXUAL IN

WHICH A HAG APPEARED TO HIM IN HIS

SLEEP AND HE COULDN’T MOVE

MANY STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT SLEEP

DEPRIVATION AND EXHAUSTION CAN “HELP” YOU

EXPERIENCE SLEEP PARALYSIS AMONG OTHER

SLEEP DISORDERS

THERE’S NO DOUBT THAT AN EPISODE OF SLEEP

PARALYSIS FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF

PEOPLE IS A TERRIFYING AND AN EXTREMELY

NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE; HOWEVER, THERE HAVE BEEN

A FEW PEOPLE WHO DESCRIBED THE WHOLE THING

AS VERY PLEASANT AND ENJOYABLE.

TO EACH HIS OWN, I GUESS

SCIENCE REASSURES US THAT NO MATTER HOW

INTENSE THE SYMPTOMS AND EXPERIENCES

MIGHT BE, SLEEP PARALYSIS IS NOT DANGEROUS

AND CAN’T KILL YOU. IT DOES NOT CAUSE

PHYSICAL HARM AND THERE ARE NO

CLINICAL DEATHS KNOWN TO DATE

STRESS, DEPRESSION, CERTAIN PRESCRIPTION

MEDICATIONS, AND, MORE RECENTLY, AN

INHERITED GENE HAVE ALL BEEN LINKED TO SLEEP

PARALYSIS BUT IN ACTUALITY NO DEFINITIVE

CAUSE HAS BEEN LINKED TO THE PHENOMENON