Sleep paralysis is a sleep disorder which is characterized by periods of wakefulness during which a person is unable to move. This phenomenon may be associated with hallucinations and a feeling of danger or oppression making the experience particularly painful.
Mechanism of sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis is a disorder of the paradoxical sleep occurring when falling asleep (hypnagogic paralysis) or waking up (hypnopompic paralysis). The person is then conscious and awake but cannot manage to activate your muscles.
Indeed, the muscular tone is at this moment inhibited by the wisteriaa neurotransmitter produced in order to prevent an individual from reproducing in reality the movements which he performs in his dreams. If this chemical safety device normally provides protection against accidents nocturnalit nevertheless becomes the heart of the problem for people with sleep paralysis, who then find themselves unable to move or call for help.
This unpleasant feeling is usually made even more distressing by hallucinations auditory, visual or even sensory, as well as a feeling of oppression, suffocation or imminent death. Several patients describe a presence in the room, and sometimes an intruder sitting on their chest, which prevents them from breathing.
Who is affected by sleep paralysis?
The distribution of this disorder varies greatly by ethnic group and may also be influenced by factors genetic. However, it remains rare overall, affecting between 25 and 60% of the population, with only 0.3 to 6.2% of these affected cases experiencing more than one occurrence of this phenomenon.
Anxiety, stressful events or a lack of restorative sleep can promote its occurrence, as well as the consumption of certain substances (drugs, medications and certain flavor enhancers).
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