Thread: Questions about Sleep Paralysis

First off-I'm a LD beginner, I've never had a LD or SP. But I've read a lot on this forum so I think I can help.

1. Yes, the SP is the body making sure you're not going to act out the dream you're about to have.
2. That's called WILD, where you remain concious while falling asleep into a dream. So you have to pass through SP first to get to a dream.
3. Anytime you dream, you're in SP.
4. I don't really understand this. You're in SP whenever you enter the dream state. When you wake up, you usually exit SP (rarely, people will remain in SP, but its not common).

I hope this helps!

Sometimes understanding what sleep paralysis truly is can lead to its understanding.
When we are in a REM stage of sleep, our minds turn our motor functions off, that is... all but our eyes. This allows us to in act our dream out with out flailing around in our sleep.
Sometimes there are glitches in our brain receiving this message upon awakening. Often brief but none the less your brain has not gotten the message across to allow you to move.
This awareness I believe can allow an individual to have SP more often than others.
I myself often drift in and out of sleep with a hint of logic awareness about me. With that, I often end up in between, as you mentioned, two states. The result = SP.

Some info on Wikipedia, just for reference:

Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up (known as hypnopompic paralysis) or, less often, shortly before falling asleep (known as hypnagogic paralysis).

Physiologically, it is closely related to the paralysis that occurs as a natural part of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is known as REM atonia. Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM state, but the bodily paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully aware, but unable to move. In addition, the state may be accompanied by hypnagogic hallucinations.

More often than not, sleep paralysis is believed by the person affected by it to be no more than a dream. This explains many dream recountings which describe the person lying frozen and unable to move. The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful objects may appear in the room alongside one's normal vision.

Symptoms: The primary symptom of sleep paralysis is partial or complete skeletal muscle paralysis during the hypnopompic or hypnagogic states. In other words, it is the sense of being aware that one is unable to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up. Sleep paralysis may also be accompanied by hypnagogic hallucinations. These hallucinations can be auditory, tactile, and/or visual. If a polysomnograph is taken, at least one of the following will be shown: skeletal muscle tone suppression, REM sleep at sleep onset, or dissociated REM sleep. The paralysis can persist anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes before the person is able to either return to REM sleep or to become fully awake.

Possible Causes: Sleep paralysis occurs during REM sleep in order to prevent the body from manifesting movements made in the subject's dreams. Little is known about the physiology of sleep paralysis. However, some have suggested that it may be linked to post-synaptic inhibition of motor neurons in the pons region of the brain. In particular, low levels of melatonin may stop the depolarization current in the nerves, which prevents the stimulation of the muscles, to prevent the body from enacting the dreamt activity (e.g. preventing a sleeper from flailing his legs when dreaming about running).

Many people who commonly enter sleep paralysis also suffer from narcolepsy. However, various studies suggest that many or most people will experience sleep paralysis at least once or twice in their lives.

Some reports read that various factors increase the likelihood of both paralysis and hallucinations. These include:

* Sleeping in a supine position (facing upwards)
* Irregular sleeping schedules; naps, sleeping in, sleep deprivation
* Increased stress
* Sudden environmental/lifestyle changes
* A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode. Also conscious induction of sleep paralysis is a common technique to enter a state of lucid dreams, also known as WILD.
* Artificial sleeping aids, ADD medications and/or antihistamines

One of my friends must not have gone through SP for a while, because she said she would hurt herself in her sleep by poking herself in the eyes and hitting her head against the wall and beating herself up. Is this common?

That sounds odd, but i'm no specialist so I couldn't say

Originally Posted by weelilhazel

One of my friends must not have gone through SP for a while, because she said she would hurt herself in her sleep by poking herself in the eyes and hitting her head against the wall and beating herself up. Is this common?

Same premise as sleepwalking, I'd think. SP malfunctions, so your body moves during sleep.