Symptoms and Causes of Sleep Paralysis

Sleep paralysis is a disorder that will impair your speech and movement when you go to sleep or wake up in the morning. This form of sleep disorder is also known as parasomnia which is characterized by aberrant movements, activities, or sensations. Sleep paralysis will be a scary experience for many people who will frequently face vivid hallucinations, a sense of impending doom, and a trapped feeling.

Symptoms of Sleep Paralysis

1. Immobility

The main symptom of sleep paralysis is its momentary incapacity to talk or move while they are still aware. In that time, you will be conscious of your surroundings yet you will feel like you are not able to react. The duration of this sleep paralysis will range from a few seconds to many minutes.

2.Hallucinations

When you are experiencing sleep paralysis then you will describe it as vivid and scary hallucinations. Usually, there are three kinds of hallucinations:

• Intruder Hallucinations

The feeling that someone is in your room which is usually interpreted as a threat.

• Incubus Hallucinations

A sensation of constriction in your chest that is frequently accompanied by a feeling of suffocation.

• Vestibular-motor hallucinations

The debilitating sensation of movement like floating or soaring.

3. Anxiety and Fear

During sleep paralysis, you will mostly experience extreme anxiety or terror. The cause of this is the helplessness experience and frequently you will be menacing quality of the hallucinations.

4. Breathing Difficulty

Breathing difficulties will arise for you if you will feel pressure on your chest. It is vital to understand that sleep paralysis will just make your breathing seem limited but in actuality, it has no real effect on your respiration.

Causes of Sleep Paralysis

Although the exact causes of sleep paralysis are still unknown but scientists will think that a mix of lifestyle, genetic, and sleep-related variables will play a big role. The following are the main variables that are believed to affect you in sleep paralysis:

1. Sleep Cycle Disruptions

Sleep cycle abnormalities are those which will occur during the transitions between your rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and waking. In order to keep you away from acting out your dreams, your body will inherently paralyze you during REM sleep. A brief condition in which your body stays in a state of atonia (muscle paralysis) while the brain is still awake will be caused by an overlap between REM sleep and waking awareness.

2. Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation will result in irregular sleep patterns and will raise your risk of sleep disruptions then it will cause bouts of sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis episodes will occur more frequently in those who don’t have enough sleep.

3. Irregular Sleep Schedules

Sleep paralysis is more likely to occur in those who work on night shifts or who regularly alter their sleep routines. Sleep paralysis will be facilitated by fragmented sleep that is caused by disturbances of your circadian rhythm.

4. Genetics

Some study indicates that genetics is involved in sleep paralysis. It is still not clear which particular genetic factors will raise vulnerability.

Conclusion

The experience of sleep paralysis will be scary and confusing for you. Although it is usually not harmful, but it will have an impact on mental health. You can control or lessen your bouts by being aware of the symptoms. The risk of sleep paralysis will be reduced by reducing the level of your stress, preserving normal sleep cycles, and improving your sleep hygiene. Seeking medical advice from a sleep specialist will be beneficial for you.