What is Sleep Paralysis?

An Explanation

You’ve just woken up, only to realize you can’t move a muscle. You can’t talk even though you want to shout for help and you sense someone in the room with you and you know they want to cause you harm. You try to move your arm, but you can’t, you try to scream ... You fear for your life but you can’t move because you’re paralyzed!

Sleep Paralysis (SP) (also called Hallucinatory Sleep Paralysis or HSP or Isolated Sleep Paralysis or ISP) is a condition in which, upon waking, a person is completely aware of their surroundings, able to breathe and sometimes move the eyes but is unable to move the rest of the body due to the onset of muscular atonia (a normal part of the REM sleep phase). This condition (often referred to as an “attack”) is a common symptom among narcoleptics but can happen to others without narcolepsy and often does, although the exact percentages vary widely.

What are the symptoms of SP?

There are many articles and books available but unfortunately they do not cover a vast scope of the actual symptoms that can occur during SP. As individuals our experiences differ. As we progress through our lives, our symptoms can change and evolve as well. Below is a comprehensive listing of the most common symptoms associated with an “attack” of SP.

The core symptom associated with every instance of SP is a feeling of wakefulness and awareness of surroundings accompanied by the inability to move, often (but not always) including sensations of:

• Hallucinations
• Hypnagogic or Hypnopompic
• A sense of evil nearby
• Sensation of a presence in the room sometimes accompanied by:
• pressure on the chest or body
• choking , felt to prevent adequate breathing in an effort to end one’s life
• poking
• stabbing (as if with a needle or digit)
• extreme, terrifying fear for one’s life
• very heavy limbs and extreme fatigue
• sensations of trying “fight off” the presence sensed
• sensations of sexual nature
• Vibrations (or pins and needles feeling)
• Noises
• door slamming
• object(s) falling
• buzzing
• household sounds (as if lying in bed awake and hearing a family member talking)
• Voices
• one’s name being called
• words or sentences whispered or growled in ones ear
• Smells
• Levitation (floating or gliding)
• Lights
• Flashing
• Atmospheric (surrounded one while lying in bed)

How long does SP last?

Sleep paralysis can last for as little as a few seconds to as long as a half hour and although uncommon, one may have several recurring episodes in which they think they are coming out of it only to find themselves still paralyzed and stuck in what appears to be a vicious and terrifying cycle.

The Good News

Remember, although terrifying, SP is a normal part of our sleep cycle and it will end.

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