The Waking Nightmare You Could Get Trapped in Tonight
This article originally appeared on my blog. I post occasionally on Fridays about a topic I have found interesting recently, called #Foughts.
All of us have experienced some pretty scary nightmares in our lives, some that felt so real we wept with relief when we realised it was just a dream. But what if that nightmare happened when you were awake and fully aware of your surroundings? And what if you were forced to endure it every night? Welcome to sleep paralysis, the real-life waking nightmare that can happen to anybody.
History of Sleep Paralysis
The terrifying phenomena has been reported for over 1000 years. A case study by physician Isbrand von Diemerbroek written in 1664, and titled ‘Of the Night-mare’, describes a woman who ‘when she was composing herself to sleep, sometimes she believed the devil lay upon her and held her down, sometimes that she was choked by a great dog or thief, lying upon her breast… she was not able to stir her members.’
10th c. Parisian physician Rhazes (895-925 c.) reports in his medical texts: ‘when the night-mare (kabus) happens, the person senses a heavy thing upon him and finds him unable to scream.’
These case studies show that the phenomena has been known for centuries. In Rhazes’ opinion, the problem was caused by vapours from the stomach rising to the brain. His treatment: bloodletting.
What is Sleep Paralysis?
Modern day research has shown that sleep paralysis is what happens when your brain is awake but your body is asleep. Typically the brain wakes before the body. This is why victims are paralysed and this may manifest in the brain as a hallucination of being held down. There are hundreds, thousands, of cases, but people generally feel that a doctor can’t help, because it feels ‘personal beyond medicine, and something beyond correction‘.
It is considered a parasomnia, a sleep disorder where something abnormal happens during it, such as sleep walking. Interestingly, this is the opposite of sleep paralysis – the brain is asleep and the body is awake. Where sleep walking has been studied more, probably because the sufferer could cause harm – such as homicidal sleepwalking, sleep paralysis is still an almost supernatural occurence.
With victims experiencing vivid terrors: ‘an unseen presence tries dragging me down’; ‘something is pressing my head into my pillow trying to suffocate me’, it’s not hard to believe there are supernatural forces at work. However, the bizarre scenarios of demonic entities dragging people down or trying to suffocate them can be linked to the way the brain reacts during this sleep disorder.
What Happens During Sleep Paralysis?
Firstly, the brain goes into a ‘hypervigilant’ state, meaning the victim’s senses are super-sensitive, making them extremely alert. Much like when you hear a creak when you’re alone in bed at night, and you hold your breath to listen. This super sensitivity creates ‘wildly exaggerated real-world stimuli‘.
This causes the victim anxiety, and increasing anxiety creates delusions. Many sufferers describe a feeling of being suffocated and this is due to the brain being unable to send a signal down to the diaphragm muscles.
Because sleep paralysis occurs as the sufferer is waking up, the brain is pulsing both alpha waves, a signal of focus – the body is meant to be waking up, and beta waves, a signal of relaxation and sleep. This collision of opposites understandably leaves the brain confused and causes delirious delusions.
Sleep Paralysis Symptoms
It tends to happen when people are sleeping on their back and those who suffer with narcolepsy are more prone to them. Some common symptoms:
- Sensing an intruder in the room e.g. footsteps, voices, shadows
- A weight or pressure on the chest
- Floating, levitation or out-of-body experience
- Sensation of being choked, strangled or sexually assaulted
The Sleep Paralysis Project identifies three key factors to establish that you suffer from Sleep Paralysis:
- The patient has an awareness that they are awake
- The patient is aware of their surrounding environment
- The patient is completely unable to move (muscle atonia)
What Causes Sleep Paralysis?
It could happen to anyone – about 40% of the population have had it at least once in their life – but some factors can increase the chance:
- Lack of sleep
- Irregular sleep schedule
- Existing psychiatric condition e.g. bipolar disorder
- Drug or alcohol abuse
Is Sleep Paralysis Supernatural?
During the witch trials, cases of sleep paralysis were used as evidence against suspects. People have reported seeing ‘shadow people‘ in their rooms, certain they are from another plane and feasting on fear, some of their symptoms matching those of sleep paralysis. The 2015 documentary ‘The Nightmare‘ centred on sufferer’s terrifying experiences – so maddening that they were sure they were being toyed by evil spirits.
I asked people about their own experiences, and scanned Reddit, and the replies are spine-chilling.
Fi: “It was about 5.15am and I’d just locked the door after my then husband had gone to work. I lay back down with my eyes open, facing the wall. A couple of minutes later, something sat down on the bed behind me. It couldn’t have lasted any longer than 30 seconds, but during that time I couldn’t breathe, blink or move. Then I felt the weight lift behind me and I was back to normal.”
Victoria: ” I woke up laying on my back but I couldn’t move. I could only see slightly out of one eye and I felt like there was someone standing next to my head but just out of view. I tried to talk but could only make a weird crying noise. Then it went black and I jerked awake and was sweating loads. It felt horrible and it was terrifying.”
Diosa: “I usually cannot move or speak and hallucinate whenever I lay on my back. But when I’m on my stomach, I feel two strong manly hands grab my waist and the fingers move.”
Iniv: “I knew I was experiencing sleep paralysis since I couldn’t move and felt like I was caged in my own body. Then a doll starts to appear in front of me, with its profile to me, when I blink it looks me straight in the eye. I couldn’t move, can’t do anything, just scream internally.”
Casual Camel: “It sounded like my roommate was banging on the door, screaming for help, because there was a murderer in our apartment, or something. It sounded so real. I had to wake up my boyfriend and make him come with me to check the apartment.”
Amazing Rando: “One time I saw a red glow coming from my living room (I lived in an apartment with a window between the living room and bedroom) and heard something skittering back and forth while muttering in Latin.”
Clumsy But Kinda Cute: “One time I almost gave my roommate hell for being loud at 2am. No one had even been home. I also had to get rid of my bed because I would hear things underneath my bed.”
How To Get Rid of Sleep Paralysis?
Many sufferers claim that trying to wiggle your toes while under paralysis will make it pass faster, and looking at a clock will help you figure out if you are sleeping e.g. the time will be blurry. Because the ‘nightmare’ gets worse with growing anxiety, try to realise that you are actually still asleep and it is all in your mind. The less you fear it, the more control you have over it.