Expert Article - Sleep Paralysis


The Sleep Paralysis Mystery

The dreadful phenomenon of paralysis and the demons that lay over you.


I want you to imagine flopping into bed and immediately falling asleep. When you wake up, you realize your mind is conscious but your body weighs heavily, unable to move. Does this sound terrifying? Now, try to scream for help and you’ll notice that you’re temporarily mute. 

From a very young age, many of my own peaceful nights were disturbed by this occurrence. On some nights, I opened my eyes to see a black shadow in the shape of a man vulturing over my sleeping body. The more I panicked, the darker the experience. As I calmed myself down, the paralysis would begin to fade away.


This is referred to as sleep paralysis. The technical definition of sleep paralysis is a transitional state that occurs when a person experiences a temporary inability to react, move, or speak while asleep, falling asleep, or on awakening from sleep. But even then the words fail to do the experience justice. The two most popular opinions on the topic naturally conflict each other: the scientific standing and religious belief. Regardless of the opinion you side with, the beliefs and thoughts that you hold towards sleep paralysis will shape your reality.


Science’s view on sleep paralysis

A full sleep cycle consists of both non-REM and REM sleep. During the beginning of a normal sleep cycle, we pass through three stages of non-REM, or non-rapid eye movement, sleep. The first two stages are considered a light sleeping state. Your heartbeat, breathing, and brain activity continuously slow down. Have you ever experienced a falling sensation and woke up to the most powerful body jerk? This sensation occurs within stage 1. After reaching the slowest point in the sleep cycle, we get into the more interesting stage, REM. 


REM sleep is the home of dreams and nightmares. Now what does all of this have to do with sleep paralysis? During REM, a neurotransmitter known as glycine is released into the body. This neurotransmitter is responsible for putting the body into a paralysis state minus the muscles responsible for the involuntary processes like breathing – thankfully.


Despite glycine acting as one of the strongest paralytic drugs, our eyes are still able to move. Brain activity in REM is almost identical to the brain activity of being awake. To prevent you from acting out your dream in front of an audience, glycine paralyzes the body to keep safe. When there’s a disruption in the transition between REM and consciousness, sleep paralysis occurs.


If you’ve experienced sleep paralysis, you may be asking yourself, “What about the heavy weight I feel on my chest as if something or someone is weighing me down?”. This sensation can be attributed to your shallow breathing pattern during REM sleep.


What about the shadows and demon-like figures that creep over my unconscious body? The scientific term for this occurrence is hypnopompic hallucinations. Similar to regular hallucinations, your sensory experience fails to correspond to reality. This all happens while your body is in a limbo between a wakefulness and sleeping state. (Gilpin, 2022)

The most common causes of sleep paralysis are listed below:

  • changes in sleep patterns

  • sleep deprivation

  • substance abuse

  • narcolepsy


Now, it’s important to shed light on the fact that the research on this topic is fairly new within the scientific community, however, many cultures hold beliefs regarding sleep paralysis that age back generations.


Cultural views on sleep paralysis

Different religions naturally hold different interpretations on the deeper meaning of sleep paralysis, but one common theme is the inclusion of some form of sleep paralysis demon. In Japan, there's the old hag. In Italy, sleep paralysis is attributed to the Pandafeche attack. In Egypt, this demon-like creature is referred to as the Jinn. 


In Japan, sleep paralysis is referred to as Kanashibari. The most traditional story in Japanese culture is the sighting of the old hag. The old hag is typically an ugly woman dressed in white who sits on the bed making eerie sounds. How creepy does this sound? Japanese folklore claims that Kanashibari only occurs when the person is about to encounter a supernatural being. (Kincaid, 2017)


In Italian culture, the Pandafeche is thought to be an evil witch known to shape various things. Most commonly, the Pandafeche may come shaped as a ghost-like spirit or an evil cat. Regardless of physical appearance, if you happen to survive your encounter with the Pandafeche creature I’m going to take a wild guess and assume you’re hoping it’s the first and only time.  To protect yourself against the sleep paralysis creature, Italian culture suggests a pile of sand by your bed, placing a broom by your bedroom door, and sleeping in a supine position. (Jalal, 2015)


Let’s travel to the country of Egypt, a majority Muslim country. The Muslim community attributes sleep paralysis to a spirit-like creature known for possessing, harming, and even killing their victims. This terrifying creature is known as the Jinn. (Jalal, 2020) Muslims protect themselves by engaging in preventative measures. You could resort to Islamic medicine known for traditional healing such as ruqyah. A common practice involves reciting the Quran over water then pouring the water over their body for extra protection. Chronic sleep paralysis will often lead to a visit to a local Muslim priest for consulting on their recent disturbances. 


Whether you choose to side with the scientific explanations or cultural beliefs, the thoughts that are prominent in the mind will take weight and mold the way you experience sleep paralysis.


Cultural Priming - Your thoughts shape your reality


Your own beliefs will shape your sleep paralysis experience. Let’s say you’re a nonreligious person. In this case, sleep paralysis will be a harmless and natural experience. On the other hand, if you’re Japanese, sleep paralysis is more likely to be a traumatic experience with the fear of the old hag looming in your mind. This concept is referred to as cultural priming and plays a key role in sleep paralysis. (Spanos, 1995) 


To paint a picture, imagine opening your eyes to the paralytic state. You begin to visualize the encounter in the image painted by your culture, and the more you panic, the more you struggle. The more you struggle, the worse the sleep paralysis experience gets. After what felt like hours of chest and body tightness, the traumatic experience finally ends. Or so you thought. 


This terror accompanied with cultural priming may create a positive feedback loop. You begin to fear the possibility of experiencing the sleep paralysis state once it’s time to rest your eyes, and, since the thought is prominent in the mind, your fear becomes your reality. The feedback loop gets more and more cemented each night. 


Fear associated with the thought of reencountering the traumatic sleep paralysis experience is bizarrely equivalent to those of PTSD victims. (McNally, 2004) 


A sentence of wisdom

With that said, if you’re ever in a situation of sleep paralysis, try your best to remain calm, breathe, and whatever you do DON’T OPEN YOUR EYES.


Gilpin, R. (2022, March 17). Sleep paralysis - the types, the symptoms and the treatment. Sleep Advisor. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.sleepadvisor.org/sleep-paralysis/ 

Jalal, B. (2020, March 29). Beliefs about sleep paralysis in Turkey: Karabasan Attack. Sage Journals. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1363461520909616 

Jalal, B., Romanelli, A., & Hinton, D. E. (2015, March 24). Cultural explanations of sleep paralysis in Italy: The Pandafeche attack and associated supernatural beliefs - culture, medicine, and psychiatry. SpringerLink. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11013-015-9442-y 

Kincaid, C. (2017, August 20). Chasing nightmares – kanashibari. Japan Powered. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.japanpowered.com/japan-culture/chasing-nightmares-kanashibari 

McNally, R., Lasko, N., Clancy, S., Macklin, M., Pitman, R., & Orr, S. (2004, June 15). Psychophysiological responding during script-driven imagery in people reporting abduction by Space Aliens. Psychological science. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15200635/ 

Pacheco, D. (2022, July 8). What happens during NREM sleep? Sleep Foundation. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/stages-of-sleep/nrem-sleep 

Spanos, N. P., McNulty, S. A., DuBreuil, S. C., Pires, M., & Burgess, M. F. (2002, May 25). The frequency and correlates of sleep paralysis in a university sample. Journal of Research in Personality. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0092656685710173?via%3Dihub

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

American like me - 2

Image
 I thought the book American Like Me by America Ferrera was powerful. It's not easy to share such personal experience and struggles let alone share how those experiences impacted your own identity. A good handful of these storytellers are widely known celebrities, so it's nice to see the platform that comes with their name being used to spread positive information about embracing your own and different cultures.  A lot of times there are conceived barriers in cultural differences. For example, an immigrant from India may not feel relatable to an immigrant from a different country, but this book is a great example of the opposite. Yes, there'll naturally be cultural differences, but the struggles and the effects of those struggles are both very alike. In the book, Reshma shared her struggles with her name and how her name itself gave her a second identity in America. Similarly, America Ferrera faced issues with the constant teasing of her name to the point where she started
Read more

Job Description

Image
Barista When you tell people that you worked at Starbucks as a barista expect the question of “what’s your guys’ best drink?” I never ordered Starbucks up until the point of working there, but on the rare occasion I go back as a customer I will order a brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso. Now that we have that out of the way, for all of you non-coffee addicts, the job of a barista includes making coffee based drinks, but at Starbucks add refreshers and blended drinks to that list. For the arm and leg that customers give up buying a drink, I tried my best to make sure they leave out the door happy. Each morning I clocked into my shift, I served three different roles: Opener Barista Greeter Opener My opening shift usually lasted from 4:30 am till about 9:30 am. I woke up at 3:30 am to get myself ready for work and the school day. On the bright side, a coffee shop and a tired worker are a match made in heaven.  My opening shift started with prepping for the doors to open at 5:00 am. I tu
Read more

Resilient by Rick Hanson BOOK 2 POST 2

Image
Resilient by Rick Hanson uses a blend of positive psychology, neuroscience, and useful life practices to explain the importance of resilience in everyday scenarios. Hanson believes (which I wholeheartedly agree with) that resilience is needed in our day-to-day life rather than solely for events that require enduring terrible conditions. Resilience is needed to cope with stress, raise a family, heal from old pain or traumas, deal with work, and so much more.  My thought process regarding resilience previous to this book was also that the action pertains more towards life changing events, like pushing past a tragedy.  However, this book taught me that resilience is a practice, and, like all practices, requires development. Through this constant practice you can achieve a more improve state of mental well-being. Who wouldn't want that? In the book, the author explains that this road towards a better state of mental well being begins with self compassion. Compassion is a mixture of tw
Read more