You are asleep and there you wake up but cannot move, as if you were a prisoner in your own body. This is called sleep paralysis, an impressive but benign disorder. What are the signs of sleep paralysis? How to explain this phenomenon ? Should we be worried?

This sleep disorder is very common since it is estimated that many people will experience it once or twice in their life. Sleep paralysis is a parasomnia, that is, a sleep disorder that occurs during sleep or at the edge between wakefulness and sleep (when falling asleep or waking up). 

It usually occurs during the REM phase of sleep, a 90-minute cycle that occurs after falling asleep and follows the slow sleep phase. Concretely, it manifests itself when the person is in REM sleep and is about to wake up or shortly after falling asleep, in the switch from wakefulness to sleep.

A person experiencing sleep paralysis feels like they are awake, they are trying to wake up from their sleep but cannot. She is unable to move her body, as if she is paralyzed but is quite aware of the environment around her (her bed, the noises). Unable to move, the person tries to scream, in vain. Some people who experience sleep paralysis also evoke a feeling of suffocation or the threatening presence of a person (these are only visual or auditory hallucinations). But rest assured, during an episode of sleep paralysis, the person is breathing normally. 

This phenomenon only lasts a few seconds, a few minutes at most, but it is very distressing and frightening for the person who experiences it.

No, it is not a paranormal phenomenon, the visit of the deceased while you sleep, as some like to believe. There is a scientific explanation for sleep paralysis. 

Remember that this disorder occurs during the paradoxical sleep phase. The one during which the brain activity is intense and dreams follow one another. The person thinks he is conscious, but in fact he is between the dream and the reality. His senses are deceived. 

During this phase, the brain works at full speed (hence the wacky dreams sometimes) but it no longer communicates with the muscles. If the body is atonic it is so that we do not get agitated during our sleep and we hurt by living our dreams in an intense way. It is a natural protection of the organism. This disconnection between the brain and the muscles is fortunately short-lived, but it is precisely during this period of time that the person feels paralyzed in their sleep because their brain is “awake” but not the rest of their body.

About 30% of the population has experienced or will experience at least one episode of sleep paralysis in their lifetime. Certain factors can favor the appearance of this benign sleep disorder:

• age. The people who report one or more episodes of sleep paralysis are often adolescents or young adults.
• stress or anxiety.
• a change of life (moving, bereavement, divorce, new job).
• lack of sleep or poor quality sleep. 
• cataplexy narcolepsy. This sleep disorder (which affects young adults) is characterized by fits of sleep during the day, sudden relaxation of muscle tone without loss of consciousness, thereby promoting the occurrence of sleep paralysis.

Easy to say but in case of sleep paralysis, you should not panic and try to wake up at all costs. Better to try to let go by thinking of pleasant and calming things, to try to fall asleep again. 

The experience of sleep paralysis can be traumatic and cause dread the following nights at bedtime. But this disorder being favored by stress and anxiety, be sure to do everything you can at bedtime to fall asleep peacefully through reading or relaxation techniques, for example.

Sleep paralysis is a benign and most often one-time disorder, so there is no specific treatment to get rid of it. The best way to prevent a recurrence of sleep paralysis is to understand what is causing it. So take care of your sleep and learn to manage your stress and anxiety. 

On the other hand, if sleep paralysis are frequent and / or they become disabling on a daily basis (daytime fatigue), it is better to consult a doctor. Antidepressant treatment can be prescribed in the most severe forms.