This Is What Sleep Paralysis Scientists Say
You may have never heard of sleep paralysis, or maybe you have. We want to tell you what it is about, what it produces in the body and what possible treatments exist to avoid suffering from it.
It really is not a serious disease or pathology. Scientists recognize it as a phenomenon that occurs when the body is at rest, usually during sleep hours. Professionals on the subject place it within the international classification of sleep disorders as a parasomnia.
What is sleep paralysis?
If you’ve ever tried to get up when you woke up from bed and failed, you may have suffered from sleep paralysis. It is a muscular condition in which there is atony or laziness produced by the condition of being asleep. This strain temporarily prevents any muscle movement.
This phenomenon usually occurs when we are falling asleep or when we are waking up. The duration of this phenomenon is very short, it can last between one and five minutes. People who suffer from this paralysis are often very scared and distressed despite being perfectly awake and lucid.
The normal thing is not being able to move the muscles or articulate a word. Although it is complicated, the ideal is to calm down and wait calmly until it passes naturally.
from the University of Oxford, explains that this circumstance occurs when a small failure of the nervous system occurs. The brain wakes up from sleep, however, due to the deep state of relaxation, the body does not obey the commands it sends for a short period of time.
Perhaps it is a somewhat simple explanation, therefore, many people are not satisfied when they tell it.
Symptoms of sleep paralysis
This paralysis can occur in a healthy individual without prior notice, we must emphasize that it does not affect the health of the person. It is a fairly common and common phenomenon. It has been determined that about 8% of the population may suffer it at some time in their life.
In some cases, this paralysis is directly related to people who already suffer from narcolepsy. It is a rare disease that produces sudden sleep episodes that are impossible to predict.
The most common symptoms of sleep paralysis are as follows.
- It does not allow you to scream or speak, the mind works perfectly but you cannot react.
- Feeling of anguish and fear at this paralysis.
- Feeling of pressure in the chest area and shortness of breath.
- You are aware of everything but you cannot move.
- We can feel like the mattress sinks or strange tactile sensations that do not really happen.
Why does this phenomenon occur?
This happens when the body and mind are not well connected at one point. During the REM phase we usually dream, while our body is completely paralyzed because the muscles are very relaxed while resting. Glycine and GABA are two chemicals that help to have this “paralysis” so that we do not move during the night.
When our brain wakes up in the REM phase, before the end of sleep this paralysis occurs, because the muscles have not yet recovered from rest.
The most common causes for suffering from it, which we remember is not harmful to the body, can be several:
- Live a strong episode of stress.
- Being under a lot of pressure.
- Bad sleep many nights in a row, lack of sleep and accumulated sleep.
Treatment of sleep paralysis
If you have only suffered from sleep paralysis once, you have nothing to worry about, because it does not carry any risk to your health. In most cases there is no specific treatment, although below we will tell you what you can do if it happens again.
- The first thing is to relax and think that nothing bad happens, do not panic.
- Relax and wait patiently for a few minutes as the paralysis effect will wear off.
- To begin to regain mobility, move your fingers and toes little by little.
- Once you start moving parts of your body, calmly get out of bed and walk slowly.
If this happens to you on an ongoing basis, see a doctor, as you could have an underlying sleep disorder. However, we once again emphasize that it does not have to mean anything serious.
