Ever found yourself in a situation in between sleep, where you are unable to speak or move, no matter how hard you try? Well, that’s exactly what sleep paralysis does to you. Although a person remains aware of such incidents as it results in suffocation or hallucination, such occurrences cause distressing symptoms that can be scary for many. However, it is highly essential for every individual to be aware of certain facts of sleep paralysis to get familiarized with the situation. Two types. Sleep paralysis are generally of two types namely isolated sleep paralysis and recurrent isolated sleep paralysis. The former does not happen frequently, maybe just once or twice during their entire lifetime. The latter happens often to a person. Not night terrors. People usually confuse sleep paralysis with night terrors;however, both are not the same. In a night terror an individual suddenly wakes up from a bad dream maybe, and sits in panic, being unaware of their surroundings. In sleep paralysis nothing of this sort happens, it just takes away your ability to speak, move, and you feel a heavy pressure on your chest. Not common among everyone. It is seen that only a few percent of people have had an experience of sleep paralysis, hence it does not happen to everyone. Again, these few percent do not regularly feel the occurrence of this phenomena, it is quite rare and not a daily occurrence thing! Occurrence in some group. Only the young adults and the individuals suffering from certain mental disorders have shown the history of experiencing sleep paralysis. People undergoing medication for anxiety are more likely to experience such a phenomenon more often. Exact cause unknown. Although the exact reason for sleep paralysis is still unknown, it is yet believed that it might occur due to insomnia or excessive sleep in the daytime. It happens in people suffering from anxiety disorders, panic disorders, or maybe some sort of trauma, and other such mental health conditions. Sleeping position matters. Sleeping position plays a vulnerable role in leading to such an unpleasant experience. Studies have shown that people who sleep on their back have commonly experienced sleep paralysis more than people who sleep in a different sleeping position. Prevention is possible. The occurrence of sleep paralysis can be controlled by following a healthy sleep schedule. 6-8 hours of sleep is recommended for persons suffering frequently from sleep paralysis. Apart from this, a daily exercise can also prevent the phenomena from happening often. Having mentioned the basic facts of sleep paralysis, it is equally important to state that this symptom is not totally unavoidable, but following the doctor’s advice and the prevention tips, can to some extent help prevent such awful experience. Time to get your sleeping schedule right.
