Here is a great article I found that does a wonderful job of explaining more.
Have you ever woken up from sleep only to discover that you cannot move a muscle? With the exception of maybe your eyes and your breathing, you find yourself virtually frozen in bed. For some this situation is then made exponentially worse by hallucinations that manifest in their surroundings, threatening them while they cannot even muster a scream.
Such experiences are caused by what's known as sleep paralysis (or SP), a phenomenon that occurs every night in the typical sleeper to prevent him or her from acting out dreams during REM sleep(more on this below). When this paralysis outlasts sleep, as it sometimes can, you get instances like those described above. Waking up to SP can be an extraordinarily frightening situation, as you might know from personal experience or can tell from the personal stories on this page, but rest assured that it is not uncommon and typically not a cause for too much concern.
Has this ever happened to you?
Quick Terminology Clarifications:
While sleep paralysis occurs in the typical sleeper virtually every night, the phrase itself has become synonymous with the experiences that can more precisely be referred to asawareness during sleep paralysis (ASP), orisolated sleep paralysis (iSP).
Sleep paralysis episodes can also more rarely be a sign of the sleep disorder narcolepsy, and in these cases it is no longer referred to as isolated. Narcolepsy itself is another fascinating sleep disorder, involving patients suffering attacks of REM sleep unexpectedly at various times during the day, and you can learn more about it by clicking it's link in this paragraph.
Despite being associated sometimes with narcolepsy though, awareness during sleep paralysis happens quite frequently in even the most normal of sleepers.In fact, it is said that over 50% of people will experience at least one episode of ASP during their lifetime.
To emphasize this commonality, if you experience left-over sleep paralysis when coming out of sleep it is typically not a cause for concern, even if it is extremely frightening.
To understand why this is, lets take a look at the mechanisms that cause this phenomenon. Knowing the simple science behind ASP can really empower you to a much calmer state of mind during your next episode.
Such experiences are caused by what's known as sleep paralysis (or SP), a phenomenon that occurs every night in the typical sleeper to prevent him or her from acting out dreams during REM sleep(more on this below). When this paralysis outlasts sleep, as it sometimes can, you get instances like those described above. Waking up to SP can be an extraordinarily frightening situation, as you might know from personal experience or can tell from the personal stories on this page, but rest assured that it is not uncommon and typically not a cause for too much concern.
Has this ever happened to you?
Quick Terminology Clarifications:
While sleep paralysis occurs in the typical sleeper virtually every night, the phrase itself has become synonymous with the experiences that can more precisely be referred to asawareness during sleep paralysis (ASP), orisolated sleep paralysis (iSP).
Sleep paralysis episodes can also more rarely be a sign of the sleep disorder narcolepsy, and in these cases it is no longer referred to as isolated. Narcolepsy itself is another fascinating sleep disorder, involving patients suffering attacks of REM sleep unexpectedly at various times during the day, and you can learn more about it by clicking it's link in this paragraph.
Despite being associated sometimes with narcolepsy though, awareness during sleep paralysis happens quite frequently in even the most normal of sleepers.In fact, it is said that over 50% of people will experience at least one episode of ASP during their lifetime.
To emphasize this commonality, if you experience left-over sleep paralysis when coming out of sleep it is typically not a cause for concern, even if it is extremely frightening.
To understand why this is, lets take a look at the mechanisms that cause this phenomenon. Knowing the simple science behind ASP can really empower you to a much calmer state of mind during your next episode.
The Causes of Sleep Paralysis
What causes sleep paralysis? To answer this question it's necessary for you to know a bit about REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, the stage of sleep where most of your dreams occur. Every night during REM sleep the body shuts down virtually all muscle activity to prevent you from acting out those dreams. Your brain is extraordinarily active as you dream, as you might be able to imagine if you think about the complex environments and actions it is conjuring. The only thing that prevents your body from moving to carry out the scene your brain is living is a mechanism that kicks in to paralyze it.
This mechanism is referred to as REMatonia, or REM sleep paralysis. Very rarely, this mechanism can malfunction in some people with a condition that's quite the opposite of ASP known as REM sleep behavior disorder (or RBD). People with RBD often thrash around (or even walk and sometimes even drive!) in a manner that corresponds with what's happening in their dream world. In other words, they act out their dreams, because the paralysis that should be there during the dream is not.You can learn more about RBD and some of the complexities in life it brings up here.
What causes sleep paralysis? To answer this question it's necessary for you to know a bit about REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, the stage of sleep where most of your dreams occur. Every night during REM sleep the body shuts down virtually all muscle activity to prevent you from acting out those dreams. Your brain is extraordinarily active as you dream, as you might be able to imagine if you think about the complex environments and actions it is conjuring. The only thing that prevents your body from moving to carry out the scene your brain is living is a mechanism that kicks in to paralyze it.
This mechanism is referred to as REMatonia, or REM sleep paralysis. Very rarely, this mechanism can malfunction in some people with a condition that's quite the opposite of ASP known as REM sleep behavior disorder (or RBD). People with RBD often thrash around (or even walk and sometimes even drive!) in a manner that corresponds with what's happening in their dream world. In other words, they act out their dreams, because the paralysis that should be there during the dream is not.You can learn more about RBD and some of the complexities in life it brings up here.
Sleep paralysis occurs when the REM atonia that normally paralyzes your body during REM sleep spills over slightly into wakefulness, as demonstrated by the section of the pink paralysis bar that overlaps with the green wakefulness bar above.
On the other end of the spectrum, occasionally this REM atonia can work too well, in a sense, and trickle over into the waking state for a short period. This is exactly what is believed to happen in instances of awareness during sleep paralysis, and you can see a visual representation of this explanation in the image to the left.
It is not uncommon to be temporarily paralyzed upon waking up from a dream if the brain is slower than normal to let the muscles be reactivated. If this is the case, and lingering SP does not occur with extreme regularity, then it is completely harmless. Some peoples' bodies occasionally just take a bit longer to disarm their atonia.
However, experiencing sleep paralysis at the start of sleep (sleep onset REM) can also be a sign of narcolepsy, if it occurs on a frequent basis. If you think this may describe you, read more about the other signs of narcolepsy and consider consulting a doctor or sleep specialist about it.
In addition and more commonly, cases of isolated sleep paralysis (SP without the narcolepsy) can occur with enough regularity to really disrupt the sleep and state of mind of individuals...
*******
Nathan says: Tomorrow we'll be learning more about the hallucinations, and visions that sometimes come along with SP. I had never heard of this stuff until I started reading, and I can believe how much anxiety people feel/have felt dealing with this bizarre sleeping disorder!
Until then Join the conversation on our Facebook and Twitter Pages!
*******
Original Article Here
On the other end of the spectrum, occasionally this REM atonia can work too well, in a sense, and trickle over into the waking state for a short period. This is exactly what is believed to happen in instances of awareness during sleep paralysis, and you can see a visual representation of this explanation in the image to the left.
It is not uncommon to be temporarily paralyzed upon waking up from a dream if the brain is slower than normal to let the muscles be reactivated. If this is the case, and lingering SP does not occur with extreme regularity, then it is completely harmless. Some peoples' bodies occasionally just take a bit longer to disarm their atonia.
However, experiencing sleep paralysis at the start of sleep (sleep onset REM) can also be a sign of narcolepsy, if it occurs on a frequent basis. If you think this may describe you, read more about the other signs of narcolepsy and consider consulting a doctor or sleep specialist about it.
In addition and more commonly, cases of isolated sleep paralysis (SP without the narcolepsy) can occur with enough regularity to really disrupt the sleep and state of mind of individuals...
*******
Nathan says: Tomorrow we'll be learning more about the hallucinations, and visions that sometimes come along with SP. I had never heard of this stuff until I started reading, and I can believe how much anxiety people feel/have felt dealing with this bizarre sleeping disorder!
Until then Join the conversation on our Facebook and Twitter Pages!
*******
Original Article Here
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