Causes and methods of getting rid of sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis or how to get rid of the night attacks of the “old witch”

The inability to move within a few minutes of waking up is called sleep paralysis. . This phenomenon is quite common and very unpleasant: few of those who have encountered it dream of repeating this experience. Most people want to find out how to get rid of sleep paralysis if it has already occurred, or how to prevent such attacks.

Definition of sleep paralysis

Sleepy stupor (also known as sleep paralysis) is not on the list of diseases. Nevertheless, this phenomenon is quite common: according to various sources, from 40% to 60% of people have encountered it at least once in their lives. In most cases, sleep paralysis occurs upon awakening. During sleep, a person becomes immobilized - this natural paralysis is completely normal, and its absence leads to somnambulism. Upon awakening, a person gains the ability to control his movements, and his consciousness becomes clear. In rare cases, these moments do not coincide: consciousness clears up, but the body remains motionless.

As a rule, sleep paralysis is accompanied by difficulty breathing, tachycardia, fear, and sometimes auditory hallucinations. It may seem to a person that there is someone nearby - such sensations are so typical that different peoples Since ancient times, the state of sleep paralysis has been associated with the intervention of otherworldly forces. It is interesting that some were not only not afraid of this strange phenomenon, but also wanted to repeat it again. Many people still believe that sleep paralysis is a great opportunity to “order” yourself the right sleep, get answers from otherworldly forces to the most important questions or even leave the corporeal shell for a short time. There are special techniques that can specifically induce sleep paralysis. . In this case, stupor occurs not upon awakening, but upon falling asleep, but its symptoms are no different from ordinary sleep paralysis.

Today, doctors have figured out the mechanism of sleep stupor, although it is still unknown exactly what causes such uneven awakening.

In approximately half of cases, sleep paralysis (especially recurring) is a symptom of narcolepsy - nervous disease unknown etiology, which is characterized by sleep disturbances. In addition, sleep paralysis can also occur in healthy people against the background of changes in daily routine, time zone changes, chronic insomnia, stress, smoking and overuse alcohol.

Sleep paralysis, despite the panic it causes, is completely safe. This condition does not lead to death or any health problems. But if sleep paralysis occurs frequently, it can lead to exhaustion. nervous system Therefore, if repeated attacks occur, you should consult a doctor. A doctor will help identify the cause unpleasant phenomenon and will recommend how to avoid sleep paralysis in the future.

Preventive measures

Most of those who have had to deal with sleep paralysis are not at all eager to repeat this experience again. And indeed, in the lives of many this phenomenon never happens again. To reduce the likelihood of attacks, certain preventive measures should be taken.

The easiest way is to act on the contrary. So, since sleep paralysis occurs most often when resting on your back, it is better to sleep on your side (sleeping on your stomach can lead to difficulty breathing, which will result in sleep paralysis). If insomnia leads to sleep paralysis, then you need to get enough sleep. Is stress on the list of provoking factors? Therefore, you should try to avoid stress as much as possible.

A healthy lifestyle is very effective in quality prophylactic. Proper nutrition, quitting smoking and alcohol , active lifestyle and regular walks on fresh air will help avoid many health problems in general and sleep in particular. But active sports, especially in the evening, are useless: it is believed that they contribute to the occurrence of sleepy stupor. You should also refrain from watching “bloody” news and thrillers.

Some medications can affect sleep, including sleep paralysis. Such drugs include almost all drugs that in one way or another affect the nervous system. These are antidepressants, nootropics, sedatives and sleeping pills. If you experience attacks of sleep paralysis while taking such drugs, you should inform your doctor about this - there is a possibility that the dose will need to be changed.

People suffering from somnambulism, that is, “sleepwalkers,” never suffer from sleep paralysis. But while taking medications to treat sleepwalking, attacks of sleep stupor are quite possible. This indicates that the dose of the drug was chosen incorrectly.

What to do during an attack?

How should you behave if sleep paralysis does occur? The first attack usually takes people by surprise and causes real panic. However, there is no good reason to panic: this symptom is completely safe and lasts no more than five minutes, and most often no more than two minutes. Awareness of this fact will allow you to take the sleepy stupor calmly.

Don't try too hard to tense your muscles or move your arms or legs. Excessive stress will only make the situation worse. It is better, on the contrary, to relax as much as possible and calmly wait for it to pass. strong feeling fear. After this, you can try clenching your fingers into a fist or wiggling your toes. If you don’t succeed on the first try, it’s okay: it means you just need to wait a little longer. It is only important to remain calm.

In most cases, such simple measures are enough - the attack passes without a trace, leaving behind only memories. And although it is difficult not to be nervous when the ability to move is lost and breathing is difficult, it is quite real: you just need to remember that attacks of sleep paralysis are fleeting and pass quickly.

According to statistics, approximately 60% of the world's population claim to have experienced or periodically experience symptoms of sleep paralysis. The term sleep paralysis is not classified as medical disease, but nevertheless he has his reasons, characteristic symptoms and methods of elimination.

In terms of physiology, sleep paralysis is similar to real paralysis, that is, a person cannot move a single muscle group, while believing that full awakening has already occurred.

Conducted research has revealed that sleep paralysis is explained by a person’s disruption of all phases of sleep. Very specific reasons can lead to such an imbalance, and usually immediately after they are eliminated, everything returns to normal.

Causes of sleep paralysis

Sleep paralysis occurs in two cases - at the moment when a person begins to fall asleep or vice versa, at the stage of awakening. It is noted that muscle paralysis never occurs when the alarm clock rings, that is, stupor occurs during the natural course of one of the phases of sleep.

At the moment of falling asleep a person is in the phase slow sleep, in which the muscles are already relaxed, and consciousness is not yet turned off and, moreover, registers the quietest sounds.

Sharp awakening at the moment of transition to deep sleep causes activation of the brain, but the body cannot yet respond to impulses. That is, it seems to a person that a command from parts of the brain takes too long to get to the desired “address” and the limbs react to it with a slowdown.

A similar state is also recorded in people who wake up before the end of the phase “ REM sleep" Although many people feel like they experience paralysis for more than 10 minutes, in reality this pathological process rarely exceeds a 2-minute period.

The muscles gradually begin to work, the person gains a voice and the ability to make movements, but the feeling of horror remains for a long time. Causes leading to sleep paralysis include:

• Lack of sleep, especially over several weeks.
• Long-term stress and neurological disorders.
• Biorhythm shift, for example, when flying from one time zone to the exact opposite.
• Mental illnesses.
• Dependence on drugs, psychotropic substances.
• Sleep paralysis can develop while taking nootropics and antidepressants.
• Often this state occurs together with narcolepsy and periodic night leg cramps.

Some researchers argue that sleep paralysis has genetic predisposition. Cases of repeated attacks of stupor during sleep have been recorded among blood relatives. Therefore, if you have had similar cases among relatives, then you have a much greater chance of going into sleep paralysis.

For the first time, sleep paralysis most often begins to appear after 10 years and can bother you until the age of 20-25. In mature people, a state of immobility during sleep occurs when full time job consciousness is recorded much less frequently.

Most people experience paralysis from 1 to several times throughout their lives, but 5% of patients who consulted a neurologist were less fortunate - their attacks recur up to several times a year or even a month.

How to call?

Sleep paralysis has the same effect on the psyche of most people - they get scared, are afraid of a repetition of a similar state, and experience severe horror. But there are brave souls who try to artificially experience sleep paralysis in order to understand the secrets of their subconscious. There are certain body postures and techniques in which you can intentionally enter a sleepy stupor:

• First, you need to take a position that is more conducive to paralysis - lie on your back, tilt your head back, placing a small cushion under your neck.
• It is necessary to achieve the sensations that arise when falling upside down with high altitude. That is, you need to achieve a feeling of weightlessness, create noise and whistling in your ears, and a gust of wind in your face. If you completely, as in reality, achieve such a state, you will also experience sleep paralysis.
• You can create sleep paralysis by achieving immobility in your sleep and causing severe fear in yourself. When you fall asleep, you need to remember what really scares you.
• Some people achieve sleepy stupor if they drink coffee before bed. First, the slow-wave sleep phase will begin to take effect, but as soon as caffeine interacts with the body's systems, the person will immediately wake up sharply.

The onset of sleep paralysis is indicated by the appearance of auditory hallucinations– you can hear footsteps in the room, extraneous rustles and even the movement of objects.

Symptoms

People who experience or have once experienced the mechanism of action of sleep paralysis usually characterize their condition in approximately the same way. The most important thing is the immobility of any muscle groups with apparent full consciousness; stupor is often accompanied by unusual sound illusions. Signs of sleep paralysis include:

• Feeling of panic fear.
• Feeling of pressure on top part torso, especially on chest and neck.
• Difficulty in inhaling and exhaling, inability to make sounds.
• During sleep paralysis, your heart rate always increases.
• A person does not orient himself in space, and the illusion arises that he is in an unfamiliar place.
• Visual hallucinations include the fixation of shadows, unclear, dark silhouettes.
• Auditory illusions are accompanied by noise, the movement of shadows around the room, some feel the breathing of a foreign creature next to them.

Such sensations in most cases occur in people who prefer to sleep on their back or right side; often throwing back the head also contributes to partial immobility of the body upon awakening. Some people find it easier to fall into sleep paralysis. This is due to their suspiciousness, anxiety, neurological disorders.

A nearby relative can also notice that a person is experiencing sleep paralysis by tense muscles in the face, twitching of the arms or legs, or intermittent, heavy breathing.

Treatment

Most neurologists believe that sleep paralysis is specific treatment doesn’t need it and you can’t fight it that way. But this is only if a person does not have depressive state, neuroses, sleep disorders, alcohol or drug addiction. Paralysis will periodically occur until these provoking factors are eliminated.

In order to prevent a recurrence of an attack of sleep paralysis in the future, it is necessary to achieve normalization of sleep. In some cases, the simplest tips help with this:

• Must be performed regularly physical exercise in the fresh air. This approach to healthy image life connects together the work of the brain centers and muscles, which ensures the coherence of their functioning in all phases of sleep.
• Helps normalize sleep bad habits. There is no need to get carried away with strong tonic drinks in the evening.
• Before going to bed, the room should be well ventilated, it is advisable to take a relaxing bath or drink a decoction of soothing herbs.
• You should try to fall asleep on your side. You can put tangible objects under your back so that turning onto your back causes discomfort.
• You need to sleep a sufficient amount of time - for some people it is 6 hours, for others a little more. You should try to fall asleep at the same time.

How to get out?

In most cases, you can interrupt the regularly recurring stupor in a dream in the following ways:

• During paralysis, you need to relax as much as possible and try to move your fingers or toes, or make a sound.
• For some, activation helps them quickly return to their normal state. brain activity– counting numbers, solving problems, mental singing. Prayer is said to help, but that's more because you have to concentrate to remember the words.
• Breathing control. If you feel paralysis, you should try to make even, deep breathing movements. Once you master this technique, you can always overcome paralysis.
• During a state of paralysis, it is usually possible to make eye movements. You can try to close and open your eyelids several times.
• If the state of paralysis recurs periodically, then you can ask your husband or wife to always pay attention to your behavior in your sleep. It is enough to move the person or call out to him for him to quickly come out of his stupor.

It happens that a person begins to experience sleep paralysis almost every night or several times. In this case, it would be a good idea to visit a specialist to conduct an examination and prescribe sedatives.

Why is sleep paralysis dangerous?

The state of horror that occurs during sleep paralysis plunges many into panic, but stupor in itself is not dangerous. Within a few minutes, everything returns to normal, breathing and heartbeat normalize, and the person falls asleep again.

An educational video that talks about the causes and symptoms of sleep paralysis:

It’s worse when sleep paralysis occurs periodically in overly suspicious people. They may decide that they are susceptible lethargic sleep, heart disease, neuroses. Constantly thinking about the impending stupor, a person causes insomnia and neurotic disorders, which will require adequate treatment.

A special training program will help you get rid of paralysis that develops after a stroke. Currently, Dr. Vivek Prabhakaran, representing the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is testing the new system. Actually, you can completely need it for this.

As reported by WebMD, it is quite possible that it will be possible to restore mobility to every patient who has suffered a stroke and was paralyzed. New system looks like a complex computer interface with the properties of electrical muscle stimulation. However, this is fraught with unpleasant consequences.

Tested by experiments

The system has already been tested on eight patients who had one arm paralyzed. Training on this system was carried out for six weeks. As a result daily activities things like buttoning a shirt and combing hair became easier for patients. It is also important that the stroke in all cases occurred several years before the experiment began.

How the system works

Volunteers wore a special cap with electrodes that could pick up brain signals. These signals were later deciphered on a computer. The system sent small current discharges through wires to the pads that were attached to the arm. Thanks to this, it was possible to create the effect of natural nerve impulses, which activated the muscles.

The patients were asked to play a simple game computer game- patients had to hit the target by moving the ball with a paralyzed hand. The practice continued for two hours; a total of fifteen sessions were organized.

What effect were expected?

It is known that the brain has two hemispheres. If one area suffers from a stroke, then provided proper training the second is capable of taking on some of the functions of the first. This kind of training was provided by the system.

It is noteworthy that positive changes in the brain persisted even a month after completion of the course of therapy. But most likely, patients will need maintenance therapy. In addition, the full potential of the system can only be fully assessed within the framework of a larger scale survey. You can also use different ones.

This may seem like the start of another episode of The X-Files, but it actually happens. A man wakes up in the middle of the night and feels the presence of some strange people in the corner of the room. He cannot see them, but he clearly hears their speech. They agree to kill. But instead of jumping out of bed and running away, the person feels that his body is completely paralyzed. He realizes in horror that his minutes in this world are numbered. Strange strangers approach the bed and stand at the head of the bed. The man closes his eyes, but immediately feels a vile spit in his face. Maybe this is a dream?

"Nightmare"

Within one scientific project, dedicated to sleep paralysis, scientists are investigating a condition in which a person wakes up at night, cannot move, and experiences nightmarish hallucinations. Released in UK cinemas in October 2015 documentary"Nightmare". The film completely recreates 8 stories real people who spoke about their nocturnal hallucinations. Despite the fact that the phenomenon is quite common, scientists still do not conduct large-scale studies of sleep paralysis. In fact, it is a shame for all of science to move so slowly and reluctantly towards solving the mystery.

Hallucinations and risk factors

Sleep paralysis most often occurs either at the beginning of the night, as you fall asleep, or at the end of the night, just before waking up. Such hallucinations are usually divided into three categories. The first category makes you feel the presence of a stranger in the room, the second is the sensation strong pressure on the chest or suffocation, and the third makes you feel your own body flying above the bed. The third category of illusory experiences is usually isolated and does not overlap with the first two.

In fact, this phenomenon is more common than it might seem at first glance. In the UK, a study was recently conducted in which almost 30% of respondents said that they had experienced, at least, one episode associated with sleep paralysis. 8% of the 862 respondents reported hallucinations more frequently. This figure is consistent with a sample of 30 studies from other countries. So, on average, 10% of respondents experience this condition.

One of the symptoms of a sleep disorder

In medicine, there is a term “narcolepsy”, which characterizes a disease of the nervous system associated with sleep disorders. In this condition, the brain is unable to regulate the normal sleep-wake cycle. The condition we describe is one of the main symptoms of narcolepsy. It can also be caused by a number of other mental illness, or the stress that patients experience in the post-traumatic period.

Unfortunately, many people experience a similar condition for no apparent reason, not suffering from psychiatric or neurological diseases. However stressful situations, painful experiences, heavy thoughts and poor sleep quality may have a certain influence on the occurrence similar situations. Thus, people who work shifts or rotations and have sleep cycle disorders were more likely to report sleep paralysis.

What is the role of genetics?

To discover a genetic predisposition to sleep paralysis, scientists compared the incidence of sleep paralysis in identical twins. They share almost 100% of their genes with their siblings, while fraternal twins share only 50% of their genes with their other half. It turned out that there really is a genetic relationship between this manifestation. Scientists have suggested that changes in a specific gene involved in regulating sleep-wake cycles are responsible for sleep paralysis. However, these assumptions have not yet been confirmed, and scientists still have long and painstaking work to do in this direction.

Why are people immobilized?

As you know, sleep has three stages. During the REM sleep phase, the human brain has increased activity. At this time, rapid eye movement occurs, and colorful and realistic dreams invade a person’s consciousness. In addition to the brain and heart, only the eyeballs And respiratory system. But all the muscles of the body are temporarily completely paralyzed. Waking up during REM sleep automatically puts the muscles back into action. However, if you have sleep disorders or disruptions in genetic code atony continues after waking up. This state does not last long, and most people only need a minute to fully recover.

Recording brain activity

Sleep paralysis is a unique state of consciousness. Scientists were able to track and record the brain activity of the experiment participant during sleep paralysis and compare these results with recordings made during the REM phase of sleep. It turned out that the records were identical.

How to treat this condition?

Unfortunately, to date no effective therapeutic measures to eliminate sleep paralysis. There was simply too little work done. IN severe cases doctors prescribe antidepressants to patients, in other cases they advise improving the quality of sleep. These measures will likely only help reduce the frequency of episodes.

Although similar manifestation looks terrible, people need to realize that this is only a temporary and completely harmless event. It's like a nightmare, only a little more realistic. If researchers finally get down to business and find effective medicine, then in the future people will completely get rid of terrible hallucinations.

Good afternoon, father! My question is this: for several years now I have been faced with the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. I used to have this almost every night, then it went away completely, but it comes back periodically. During an attack, there is a feeling of fear and nightmare, sometimes dreams with sexual overtones, which is why I wake up in shock. Tell me, is sleep paralysis a possession? What should I do and how can I get rid of it? What is the reason for this phenomenon, physical or, after all, spiritual? Thanks a lot! Olga

Priest Dionysius Svechnikov answers:

Hello Olga!

No, this is not madness. The reasons for this phenomenon are unknown, and there is no special treatment does not exist. It's difficult to say how you can get rid of this. However, I think that you should definitely talk about this with the priest in person. Especially if there are dreams of a sexual nature, they do not appear out of nowhere, this is a demonic temptation.

Sincerely, priest Dionisy Svechnikov.