STATISTICS ABOUT SLEEP PARALYSIS THAT MAKE IT SCARY
Added on: 3rd Oct 2016
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
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