{"id":277,"date":"2008-01-07T06:38:41","date_gmt":"2008-01-07T10:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/sleep-paralysis-what-it-is-and-how-to-avoid-it\/"},"modified":"2013-10-07T09:44:55","modified_gmt":"2013-10-07T17:44:55","slug":"sleep-paralysis-what-it-is-and-how-to-avoid-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/sleep-paralysis-what-it-is-and-how-to-avoid-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleep Paralysis: What it is and How to Avoid it"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Has this ever happened to you?<\/p>\n

You come out of a deep sleep. Something\u2019s wrong. You can see and hear, but you can\u2019t move! No matter how hard you try, you can\u2019t budge. It\u2019s like you\u2019re paralyzed.<\/p>\n

And it gets worse.<\/p>\n

You get the impression that there is someone in the room with you. You can\u2019t see or hear him, but somehow you know he (it?) is there. He\u2019s not nice. He means you harm. You instinctively try to draw a deep breath, but you can\u2019t. It feels like there\u2019s some sort of weight on your chest, like you can\u2019t breathe. You start to panic. Will this ever stop?<\/p>\n

As suddenly as it began, it\u2019s over. You can move. You turn on a light and survey your bedroom. You see nothing out of the ordinary, nothing out of place. You take a few minutes to calm down and then try to get some sleep\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If something like this has happened to you, you probably experienced Sleep Paralysis.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A lot of people experience sleep paralysis. If you experience it, it does not automatically mean that there is anything \u2018wrong\u2019 with you.<\/p>\n

What Happened?<\/h2>\n

Your body couldn\u2019t move because your body often can\u2019t move when you\u2019re asleep. In REM sleep, for example, many of your voluntary muscles are atonal (the muscles have no tone). Sleep researchers think that REM atonia happens so that people don\u2019t act out their dreams. In essence, sleep paralysis occurs when your mind and your body don\u2019t wake up at the same time.<\/p>\n

Terrifying<\/h2>\n

Sleep paralysis is \u201cnormally harmless<\/a>,\u201d but that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s the greatest experience in the world. In fact, many people who experience sleep paralysis report being terrified. My research on sleep paralysis<\/a>, conducted with Al Cheyne and Steve Rueffer, repeatedly found that many sleep paralysis experiencers were deeply disturbed and scared by what they felt and saw.<\/p>\n

The Sensed Presence<\/h2>\n

The sensed presence certainly doesn\u2019t make the experience any more enjoyable. A lot of people who experience sleep paralysis feel as if some evil person or entity is in the room. When I researched sleep paralysis with Al Cheyne and Steve Rueffer, we concluded that people sensed a presence because of a sort of short circuit in the brain. It looks like the part of your brain that \u2018lights up\u2019 when a threat is detected becomes active even though no threat is detected. So, you have the feeling that someone\/something means you harm when, in fact, nothing is there at all.<\/p>\n

Difficulty Breathing<\/h2>\n

Being unable to breathe is probably tied to the paralysis. You have anti-gravity muscles that help you breathe. When you\u2019re in REM, your anti-gravity muscles are sluggish. You really can breathe, of course. It just feels like you can\u2019t. Believing that you can\u2019t breathe only adds to the terror.<\/p>\n

Seeing Things<\/h2>\n

Some people hallucinate during sleep paralysis. They see all sorts of strange things. The hallucinations are happening because part of your brain is still in a dream state. Instead of seeing those weird and wacky images in your dreams, you\u2019re seeing them in the room with you.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve experienced sleep paralysis, you might be worried. Please don\u2019t worry. Remember that it is common and, as far as anyone knows, a sleep paralysis experience does not mean that there is anything medically or psychologically wrong with you.<\/p>\n

How to Stop\/Avoid Sleep Paralysis<\/h2>\n

That\u2019s all well and good, of course, but how can you avoid and\/or stop sleep paralysis experiences? There are a few things you can do:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Avoid irregular sleep patterns and get plenty of sleep. People who are sleep deprived or who have unusual sleep patterns (like shift-workers) can have disturbed REM sleep. Because sleep paralysis is a \u2018malfunction\u2019 of REM, disturbed REM sleep probably makes people vulnerable to sleep paralysis.<\/li>\n
  2. Don\u2019t sleep on your back. Data that Al Cheyne, Steve Rueffer, and I collected indicate that people who sleep on their back experience sleep paralysis more often. Of course, maybe people who sleep on their back are the kind of people who experience sleep paralysis. But, might as well give it a shot.<\/li>\n
  3. I\u2019ve also seen it suggested that you should try to move your facial muscles.<\/li>\n
  4. Someone else touching you might bring you out of it, but this has yet to be confirmed.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The number one thing to remember is that there is nothing truly wrong. If you find yourself experiencing sleep paralysis, you might try relaxing and taking in the experience. Remind yourself that sleep paralysis is nothing more than a \u2018waking dream.\u2019 You\u2019ll be truly awake soon enough.<\/p>\n

    Ian Newby-Clark is Professor of Psychology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. He studies habits and methods for changing them. You can read more about his findings at his blog, My Bad Habits<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    You come out of a deep sleep. Something\u2019s wrong. You can see and hear, but you can\u2019t move! No matter how hard you try, you can\u2019t budge. It\u2019s like you\u2019re paralyzed. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":12709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[24],"tags":[2609,2610,136,2608],"yoast_head":"\nSleep Paralysis: What it is and How to Avoid it | PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Has this ever happened to you? You come out of a deep sleep. Something\u2019s wrong. You can see and hear, but you can\u2019t move! No matter how hard you try, you can\u2019t budge. It\u2019s like you\u2019re paralyzed. And it gets worse. 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