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What is sleep paralysis and why does it occur?
Sleep
Sometimes we experience such sudden awakenings that we only have the ability to move our eyes while our entire body is immobilized.
You’ve heard of the sleep paralysis and you will get a slight idea of how difficult those few seconds are in which the body does not react but, instead, the eyes are wide open, observing everything they see around them. However, nothing to do with what those who have experienced it in their own flesh really feel.
La sleep paralysis, defined by Dr. Óscar Larrosa, member of the SES work group on Movement and Behavior Disorders during Sleep, is the momentary inability to move and talking during the transition from sleep to awakening. That is, the awakening has been so abrupt that the person is immobilized for a few seconds, with the ability to move only the eyes, something that can become truly distressing. “The patient is between wakefulness and sleep and being able to move only his eyes and be aware of everything that happens around him, the mind sometimes believes that he is going to have a heart attack or that his life is going to be lost” says the expert.
Of course, the sleep specialist assures that it is not the same that this overwhelming moment catches us face up than face down … «It is usually worse than paralysis catches us looking up because the range of movement of the eyes is greater than if we are side or face down.
According to the sleep specialist, we could differentiate two types of paralysis depending on the type of person:
— Healthy population: the vast majority, so if it occurs it is sporadically and specifically because they have been sleeping badly for a couple of days. “Sleep deprivation increases them, as does poor quality sleep from taking toxins or alcohol,” warns Óscar Larrosa. In addition, they are usually genetic and between 5% and 40% suffer from it at least once in their life.
— Narcolépticos: in those who suffer from this chronic sleep disorder, sleep paralysis is very common, and affects between 50% and 75%.
It is dangerous?
At best, the fact of experiencing sleep paralysis makes us anxious, but it is not dangerous at all. Of course, for those who do not know what it is or what it supposes, it can be a complicated moment that will not want to repeat. But what do we do while we are living it? As Óscar Larrosa says, trying to fall asleep is usually not the best option, so waiting and keep calm it is the most sensible “since it is something momentary that is going to happen”. However, the experience can be even worse if at the time we live it we mix voices or images from real life with those of the dream, since not having enough muscle tone in the dream rem one begins to see and hear things that were from the dream.
“They are not usually treated unless it is something very frequent, and in that case it would be with medications that inhibit rem sleep, but in general it is not something worrisome because it usually catches us in bed, so there is no danger”, concludes the specialist.