Sleep Paralysis: Awake, Terrified, and Unable to Move

Aaron Chy, Bsc General, PharmD Student

Overwhelming Fear, Hallucinations, and the Feeling of Suffocation

You’re either just falling asleep, or just waking up when suddenly you’re faced with unexplainable feeling of dread. Maybe it’s something you saw or heard, but you can’t shake the feeling that you’re not alone. You try to turn and look, but you can’t move anything but your eyes. Suddenly, you feel an intense, invisible weight on your chest, and you start to panic as it gets harder to breathe.

Seconds later, you snap out of it. There’s no-one there. Everything’s just fine.

Sound familiar?

Sleep Paralysis

If you’ve ever experienced any of the above symptoms, then you’ve gone through what’s called sleep paralysis. Normally when we sleep, our body naturally becomes paralyzed to keep us still while we’re unconscious. Sleep paralysis occurs when a part of the brain wakes up while our body’s still asleep – unable to move. If this wasn’t terrifying enough, many people with sleep paralysis experience intense feelings of dread and sometimes vivid hallucinations. It’s thought that these symptoms occur because a part of the brain is still locked in REM sleep, where dreams are the most intense.¹ The most common symptoms include:²

• Intruder hallucinations: A sense of an unwelcome, threatening presence nearby  
• Incubus hallucinations: A feeling of heavy pressure on your chest
• V-M hallucinations: Illusory feelings of floating, flying, or moving – sometimes, reported as out-of-body experiences

Unsurprisingly, these symptoms often cause a great deal of distress for individuals that experience them.³

What Causes Sleep Paralysis?

While sleep paralysis isn’t fully understood, anyone with any of the following are considered to be at a higher risk of experiencing sleep paralysis:^1,4

• Sleep disorders (e.g. narcolepsy)
• Mental health disorders (anxiety, depression)
• Substance use

Notably, it’s been found that students are almost four times more likely to experience sleep paralysis than the rest of the population.⁴ It’s thought that busy schedules and an inability to make time for rest are major contributing factors.⁵

Is Sleep Paralysis Dangerous?

Sleep paralysis on its own isn’t dangerous. Also, it’s typically rare and often doesn’t last more than a few moments. However, if you find yourself experiencing symptoms more frequently on a regular basis, it’s an indication you need to start looking at how you take care of yourself. Proper sleep hygiene and good mental health are the key. So, if you have any concerns, contact a healthcare provider for advice.

As always, we hope you took away something valuable from this piece. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this article or others, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram, Facebook, or at ask@orbishealth.ca with your feedback. We’d love to hear from you. 

RESOURCES

1. Texas A&M University, news release, Steven Bender, Sept. 19, 2016
2. Denis, D., French, C. C., & Gregory, A. M. (n.d). A systematic review of variables associated with sleep paralysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 38141-157.
3. J. A. Cheyne, G. Pennycook. Sleep Paralysis Postepisode Distress: Modeling Potential Effects of Episode Characteristics, General Psychological Distress, Beliefs, and Cognitive Style. Clinical Psychological Science, 2013; DOI: 10.1177/2167702612466656
4. Sharpless, B. A., & Barber, J. P. (2011). Lifetime Prevalence Rates of Sleep Paralysis: A Systematic Review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 15(5), 311–315. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2011.01.007
5. Liu, S., Athey, A., Killgore, W., Gehrels, J., Alfonso-Miller, P., & Grandner, M. (n.d). SLEEP PARALYSIS AND HYPNOGOGIC/ HYPNOPOMPIC HALLUCINATIONS: PREVALENCE IN STUDENT ATHLETES AND RELATIONSHIP TO DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS. Sleep, 41A358.