In Case You Have Ever Woken Paralyzed in the Middle of the Night and Wondered Why Is That Happening, Here Is Your Answer!

Sleep paralysis is when you are not able to move, but you are conscious. It happens when somebody passes between the stages of sleep and wakefulness.

This is probably the weirdest sensation a person can experience, since the inability to move while being conscious is definitely the strangest thing ever.

Sleep paralysis can be strange and possibly terrifying phenomenon. Actually, the person who is experiencing sleep paralysis is not able to move any part of the body, even though the person is totally conscious. People who have had this experience are usually terrified, which is understandable considering that they couldn’t control their movements.

Luckily, this does not harm the body and it is quite common occurrence. Sleep paralysis can happen during one of two stages, hypnopompic and hypnagogic. Hypnagogic sleep paralysis happens prior to falling asleep. The hypnopompic sleep paralysis happens when a person wakes up from REM sleep.

While we fall asleep, the body begins to be very relaxed, and the mind begins to be less aware as the body comes to a state of involuntary relaxation. It is at this moment when a person realizes that he or she cannot move in spite of all efforts and the felling of panic follows next.

Throughout the REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the muscles of the body are paralyzed in order to stop as from acting in our dreams. In case of a hypnopompic sleep paralysis, there is a specific part of the brain which wakes up sooner. Nevertheless, this wakeful state does not have an effect on the part of the brain which is responsible for the REM paralysis. The result of all of this is a paralysis and wakefulness to a certain degree.

This Can Happen To

There are some people which experience this type of paralysis only once or two times in a lifetime. However, there are people who don’t share the same luck, and they experience it more often, some even a few times a week. According to a study conducted at Penn State University about 8 percent of the entire population suffers from frequent problems with sleep paralysis. People who have mental disorders, like depression and anxiety are more likely to experience these episodes of sleep paralysis.

Source: guardianofhealth.com

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