Sleep Paralysis Research Paper

You do not need to go to the doctor after one episode of paralysis. "If you have rare episodes of sleep paralysis, but haven't been seen by a sleep specialist, make sure your sleep hygiene is solid. For example, sleep paralysis can be a sign that you're sleep deprived” (livescience.com). However, if you do decide to go to a doctor they will have a sleep study done. These tests are also used to see how you fall asleep and how your body falls asleep. This includes heart rate, breathing, and brain waves. You may also be tested for sleeping disorders such as narcolepsy or insomnia. Something that may help both you and the doctor is a dream journal. The journal should be used to record your sleep schedule. Within that journal, you could also keep a plan of how to wake up using whatever method you choose. By doing so, the plan will become cemented into your brain, which may make it easier to follow and break the paralysis. It’s like studying for a test. When you know the material the test is much less complicated. This dream journal will also be used to see what you see and feel in the paralysis. The doctor can then analyze the given information and be able to help you out much more. Another treatment method is to improve your sleep cycle. This means going to bed and waking up at reasonable times, even on the weekends. You should eat healthy, exercise

Credibility Statement: Having a sleep disorder, myself, I know how important it is to get the recommended sleep each night. According to Alina Bradford in the article "Sleep Paralysis: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment"(2017), Sleep Paralysis is described as the inability to move or speak immediately after waking up.

According to MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, the common symptoms of narcolepsy are periods of extreme drowsiness during the day (MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia). People with narcolepsy feel a strong desire to sleep, usually followed by a short nap. The sleep attacks last about fifteen minutes but can be longer. Often times, these sleep attacks happen after eating, during driving, and other everyday tasks. After a short nap, a person usually wakes up feeling refreshed and energized. As stated by Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia, “Another symptom is dream-like hallucinations between sleep and wakefulness” (MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia). This is when a person experiences seeing or hearing right before they fall asleep. Sleep paralysis and cataplexy are also common symptoms of narcolepsy (MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia). Sleep paralysis is not being able to move as you are falling asleep or upon waking up. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, it usually goes unnoticed because it occurs during REM sleep (NINDS). REM sleep is rapid eye movement sleep. It occurs in breaks when rapid eye movements occur along with bodily movement. Similarly, cataplexy is a sudden loss of mobility. This is also associated with strong emotion like laughter or anger, which can trigger cataplexy

Did you ever awaken and find yourself unable to move? Perhaps you sensed a presence in your room or a pressure on your chest. This is sleep paralysis. It is a common disorder that affects millions of people. Most believe it occurs as we are on the edge of REM sleep. The disorder has been connected with such hallucinogenic events such as alien abduction or an evil presence. Sleep paralysis is an inability to move or speak, occasionally accompanied by hallucinations, for up to several minutes upon awakening or just before falling asleep.

Behavioral therapies may help control symptoms, which includes taking three or more scheduled naps throughout the day and exercising. Patients are also advised to avoid heavy meals and alcohol, which can disturb or induce sleepiness during the day. Counseling is also very important for people with narcolepsy. Narcolepsy symptoms are not widely understood by the general public and this may cause patients to feel uncomfortable, alienated, or depressed. This disease can be quite frightening and thus the fear of inappropriately falling asleep will often alter a person’s life. In addition to therapy doctors will also typically prescribe stimulants to improve alertness and diminish excessive daytime sleepiness. Antidepressants are often used to treat cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations and sleep paralysis (NINDS

What is sleep paralysis? Well, sleep paralysis is the horrifying circumstance when your body is essentially disconnected from your brain. During this time period, you are unable to move any of your body parts, yet, you are conscious and able to understand

Narcolepsy is a syndrome that can be characterized by chronic daytime sleepiness, accompanied by hypnogogic hallucinations (vivid dreams that occur during overnight sleep or when falling asleep), sleep paralysis and cataplexy (an abrupt temporary loss of voluntary muscular function and tone, evoked by an emotional stimulus such as laughter, pleasure, anger,

Myths are defined as traditional stories, especially, concerning the early history of people creating explanations for some natural, social phenomena, and usually involves supernatural events. In this case, sleep paralysis was an unexplained phenomena and it still has some mysterious aspects today. Furthermore, myths were created about sleep paralysis to help create an explanation, but these myths include

There are many commands the brain gives out and sometimes those commands get a tad bit confused. Sleep paralysis is mostly due to the mind confusing the sleep cycles and over relaxation in the muscles. During sleep we pass through five stages of sleep, which involve the REM Cycles. During Stage one, we drift in and out of sleep and can easily be awakened. When we are in stage one our eyes slowly move behind our eyelids and our muscle activity starts to slow down. This is where we get that slight feeling where it’s like were falling and often see fragmented visuals. We often experience muscle contraction known as hypnic myoclonia, which is periodic limb movement disorder. Hypnic Myoclonis is a type of sleep disorder as well, it is rhythmic movement of the limbs during sleep. It can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours whenever they are clustered into episodes. Hypnic Myoclonia are very common that it has become normal for a person to have them. These sudden movements are common to what we feel when someone scares us. When we move into stage two our brain

Isolated sleep paralysis (ISP) is the inability to move or talk during the transition between sleep and wakefulness, accompanied by auditory and visual hallucinations that are often extremely hostile. These hallucinations can include a wicked existence in the room, an impression of being touched, or hearing voices in the room. Some people see faces at the bedside. This is typically accompanied by a perceived breathlessness. Patients describe the experience as petrifying. Episodes tend to be more recurrent when sleeping in the supine position. ISP usually happens when

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night unable to move or speak, to make it worse, imagine being visited by a witch,alien,or demon while that happens. This frightening phenomenon is called sleep paralysis which can last from one minute to an hour. Although it’s not common to experience sleep paralysis, it’s certainly not rare. In other words, it could happen only once, or a numerous amount of times throughout your life. After having a first-hand experience of this, I’ve researched the signs and symptoms, what it is and how it happens, and most importantly, how to prevent

Also, sleep paralysis is also a likely result of fear in the subject as well. Fear would cause the subject to think about the fear at night, which in turn would trigger nightmares and sleep paralysis. Sharpless, B. A., McCarthy, K. S., Chambless, D. L., Milrod, B. L., Khalsa, S., & Barber, J. P conducted experiments on patients to study the role of fear in patients in 2010. They coined the term FISP, fearful isolated sleep paralysis, to describe the phenomenon (Sharpless et al, 2010). They tested 133 subjects collected the results, in which 12.8% met the criteria of FISP (Sharpless et al, 2010). Although a small percentage, it is a contributing factor of sleep

Many people in today’s society and in past societies have experienced sleep paralysis. It can be seen in art, books, and even videos. People today tell their stories and how it feels to experience sleep paralysis in documentaries, but before any technology came out, people would describe their experiences in writing or drawings. Sleep paralysis is not dangerous, but it can be quite horrific. When one experiences sleep paralysis, they are unable to move any part of their body, the only body part one is able to move is their eyes, and during sleep paralysis, the person still continues to breath. Sleep paralysis is caused by the natural sleep cycle, which causes many people to have it, but ones with certain health problems have a higher chance

Sleeping paralysis is when, during awaking or you're falling asleep. Many people have experienced waking up from their sleep.In principle. During rapid eye movement (REM) sleep the brain has vivid dreams, while the muscles of the body are essentially turned off. It's why you can't move.

“Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness” (“What Is”). Students who have narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness and intermittent, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the daytime. Narcolepsy generally begins between the ages of 15 to 25. “Symptoms of narcolepsy include excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), cataplexy, hallucinations and sleep paralysis” (“What Is”). Excessive daytime sleepiness in general interferes with normal activities on a daily basis. Those who experience EDS report mental cloudiness, a lack of energy, and issues with concentrating and memory lapses among other things. Cataplexy consists of a sudden loss of muscle tone that leads to feelings of weakness and a loss of voluntary muscle control. The symptoms of cataplexy depend on the muscles involved, and are often triggered by intense emotions. One symptom, sleep paralysis, involves the temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up. These episodes are generally brief, lasting a few seconds to several minutes. Another symptom is hallucinations which may be experienced by those who have narcolepsy tend to be vivid and frightening. The content of the hallucinations are primarily visual, but other senses can be involved. The hallucinations are identified in two ways, based on when they occur. They are called hypnagogic hallucinations when