According to Dr. Sylvie Royant-Parola, sleep paralysis occurs most frequently when waking up in the middle of the night, more often when falling asleep in the evening or waking up in the morning.
The feeling of anxiety arises from the fact that the person is awake, but their muscle tone is reduced to nothing. They can hear everything happening around them, but they are unable to move a single muscle. These episodes are more common in children than in adults and can affect the entire population (between 25 and 60%), including people who do not suffer from a diagnosed sleep disorder.
Symptoms of Sleep Paralysis:
Sleep paralysis occurs by following more or less the same process: While the person suffering from it has the impression of being fully awake, particularly through the perception of sounds occurring around them, they are unable to move their limbs or articulate even the smallest word. Sleep paralysis acts like a kind of dream: While they feel awake, the person is unable to wake up from sleep.
Sleep paralysis can be particularly distressing because it is sometimes accompanied by hallucinations: The person sees people, perceives inexplicable noises, and even experiences tactile sensations. These hallucinations can be associated with a feeling of tightness, as if an intruder in the bedroom is squeezing their chest. The person feels like they are suffocating or even on the verge of death.
Sleep paralysis can last from a few seconds to several minutes: anxiety or even a panic attack intensifies as time passes without the person being able to move, especially if they are also experiencing hallucinations. Hallucinations amplify panic, which in turn intensifies auditory, visual, and sensory hallucinations.
Where does sleep paralysis come from, how does it occur?
During sleep paralysis, the brain regions responsible for wakefulness and those controlling motor skills dissociate, as if they were not communicating with each other. This is explained by the fact that during a period of REM sleep, muscle tone is zero, and the body is paralyzed: This prevents us from reproducing the movements we make in our dreams in reality, which could be the cause of many involuntary nighttime accidents.
From a physiological perspective, the neurotransmitter glycine inhibits muscle movement. When we wake up, if everything is going well, this neurotransmitter no longer blocks muscle movement, and therefore we wake up normally. During sleep paralysis, glycine remains active even when our brain is awake. The feeling is terrifying for the person because they feel trapped in their body, unable to call for help.
This chemical process therefore explains why most sleep paralysis occurs as a result of a sudden awakening.
What are the causes of sleep paralysis attacks?
In addition to the immediate chemical process, certain factors increase the risk of suffering from recurrent sleep paralysis:
Stress, anxiety.
A sudden change in daily life: Sleep paralysis occurs more frequently after the loss of a loved one, after moving house, or before or during a job change.
Irregular sleep patterns.
Narcolepsy: It can lead to chronic sleep paralysis. This relatively severe sleep disorder manifests as very pronounced daytime sleepiness, or sleepiness occurring several times a day, an inability to resist sleep even during waking periods, often accompanied by sudden muscle weakness (called cataplexy). Narcolepsy is sometimes accompanied by dreams that seem completely real, hallucinations upon falling asleep and waking up, and sleep paralysis. According to the report on sleep disorders in children and adults by the College of Teachers in Neurology, 50% of people with narcolepsy suffer from recurrent sleep paralysis.
The use of certain chemical substances (medications, certain types of drugs, and even flavor enhancers added to food).
What to do about sleep paralysis: When to consult a doctor?
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