Arizona
Sleep Paralysis: A Paranormal or Scientific Phenomenon?
I have been a victim of sleep paralysis as far back as I can remember, with it occurring more often when I was teenager and tapering off more and more into my adulthood. Sleep paralysis to me has always been a feeling of my mind being wide awake, but my body being completely unable to move. This usually happens to me right as I first start to fall asleep. For me, the most terrifying aspect of the experience is the things that I can sometimes hear- often demonic voices and screams, becoming louder and louder until I can manage to shake myself out of my paralysis, which is something I have sort of mastered through the years. Another disturbing aspect of my paralysis is a feeling of being under bright lights. Sleep paralysis can include many other symptoms, like smelling foul odors, having feelings of levitation, seeing images of intruders, experiencing apparent sexual attacks, and hearing repeated words or phrases. Last year my husband had an experience with sleep paralysis during which he kept hearing the repeated phrase "behind the door, between the sheets,” which is exactly where he was. My husband is a fearless man, but that really shook him up. Obviously, sleep paralysis can be a very disturbing experience, especially for someone who is not particularly used to it.
Sleep paralysis could help explain certain beliefs that came from the Old World. People there claimed that demons or witches would come at night, sitting on a person’s chest and rendering the victim unable to move as they were attacked. The victims’ differing perceptions of what was happening might have led to many different beliefs in different places about the same experience, but similar phenomena have been reported in almost every culture since the beginning of recorded history. Folklore has described night-time attacks by demons, succubae, incubi, and ghosts, to name a few. In some regions there is still a belief known as the Old Hag. The Old Hag was named after what some have claimed to see: a malevolent grey haired woman that preys on the sleeping, seemingly intent on stealing their souls or taking their breath. It's interesting to compare the similarities between these older beliefs and the modern day event known as alien visitation, since both share many aspects, such as the paralysis-like feeling of oppression and extreme terror.
Sleep paralysis has been explained in the medical community as a premature mind-body reconnection as one is about to enter into or exit from REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the deepest stage of sleep. During REM sleep the body is largely disconnected from the brain, leaving the body paralyzed. Once thought to be extremely rare, Sleep paralysis now believed to affect at least half of the world's population at least once in their lifetime.
Whether or not you believe this to be of a scientific or paranormal nature, if you have sleep paralysis there are some things you can do to ease its symptoms, such as keeping normal sleep patterns. It may also be helpful to find techniques to de-stress, and to try sleeping in different positions. The condition seems to be made worse by jetlag, and can be more common in people who work swing-shifts. For more tips on how to avoid and/or ease the symptoms of sleep paralysis, visit http://insomnia.ygoy.com.
By Genese H.