Causes of sleep paralysis: why it happens and how to avoid it

Причины сонного паралича — почему он случается и что делать

Earlier, the phenomenon of sleep paralysis was explained exclusively from the mystical side. Demons and other evil spirits were blamed for the motionless awakening. And if doctors have long identified the scientific causes of sleep paralysis, then some people still consider it, if not a manifestation of dark forces, then a symptom of a mental disorder.

This happens because of banal ignorance. And everything unknown we always strive to explain in a bizarre and mystical way. The editors of estet-portal.com decided to figure out the real causes of sleep paralysis. Read about them in article.

What does a person feel during sleep paralysis
Causes of sleep paralysis: how medicine explains this phenomenon
Why sleep paralysis occurs in certain people
What to do if you experience sleep paralysis
Prevention of sleep paralysis: sleep hygiene is the head of everything

What does a person feel during sleep paralysis

The internet is full of scary stories from people who experience sleep paralysis. They tell in colors what horror they experienced when they woke up in the morning and couldn't move. In addition to immobilization, a person feels that someone is strangling him. There is a lot of pressure, even though he is actually breathing quite evenly.

Sometimes people even experience hallucinations during sleep paralysis. These visions can be called a waking nightmare: a person can feel the presence of some terrible creature, see a black mass approaching him, some wild images that look like heroes of ancient myths. Of course, all this is accompanied by fright and a feeling of horror.

Causes of sleep paralysis: how does medicine explain this phenomenon

There is, of course, nothing mystical in what is happening. Evil games with a person are played by his own brain. The fact is that when we plunge into REM sleep, our body is literally immobilized. This happens for our own safety: in the phase of REM sleep, a person sees dreams, can begin to move, run away from the threat of sleep. All these actions can threaten the health and even life of a person. Imagine what you would be if during every strange dream you jumped up and ran with your eyes closed around the room, waving your arms and turning your head.

Why sleep paralysis occurs? This is due to a crash that occurs when exiting REM sleep. A person wakes up, but the brain continues to keep him motionless for a few seconds or minutes, as if he is dreaming. And this is where all the "devilry" described above begins.

Why sleep paralysis occurs in specific people

It is difficult to say what specific reason led to such a failure. There may be several of them:

Stress, overstrain. A person who experiences some difficult events in life may experience sleep paralysis.
Missed sleep and waking patterns. If you go to bed early in the morning and get up in the afternoon, then the risk of experiencing these unpleasant sensations is much higher.
Lack of sleep. The same goes for those who get less than six hours of sleep working at nights.
Taking or stopping antidepressants and psychotropic drugs. These types of drugs affect the brain, and may also cause sleep paralysis.
Sleep on back. If you don't want scary surprises at nights, sleep on a side better. Doctors state that most people who experience sleep paralysis were sleeping on their backs when it happened.
Heredity. Often such episodes are repeated in the family, are inherited.

What to do if you have sleep paralysis

The first and main way to reduce the negative effects of sleep paralysis — collect information about this phenomenon. The more you find traces of mysticism in such things, the more you will be frightened and harm yourself.

The next time you experience something like this, try to calm down and keep in your head the thought that it will end quickly. Paralysis doesn last 2-3 minutes Yes, for those who fear — These minutes feel like an eternity. But if you know it's over soon, the stress is easier to deal with.

It will also help to try to move your eyes and tongue. Any feasible actions will send a signal to the brain that you are not sleeping and it's time to give you freedom of movement.

Prevention of sleep paralysis: sleep hygiene is the head of everything

To reduce the risk of such unpleasant episodes, you need to pay attention to sleep hygiene and establish a healthy lifestyle. The recommendations here are standard, but it it will not hurt to repeat them:

Sleep at least 7-8 hours per day.
Ventilate the room before going to bed.
Don do do use gadgets more than 2 hours before sleep.
Go to bed and get up at the same time
Do not drink coffee alcohol at at night. Try not to supper fatty and heavy food.
Give your body time to rest, don "drive" yourself at work.