Sleep Paralysis

Sleep Paralysis - Demons, Aliens or just a sleeping disorder?

Sleep paralysis is a peculiar but very interesting sleep disorder. Being a sufferer of sleep paralysis I can assure you that it's a frightening experience that makes you avoid going to bed like hell and staying awake till the early morning hours in order to avoid falling in such a state.
The symptoms of this specific disorder involve complete or partial paralysis, a feeling of heavy pressure on the chest area and sometimes visual or audio hallucinations. Usually, these episodes occur before falling asleep (hypnagogic form) or before waking up (Hypnopompic form). Sleep paralysis isn't as rare as you may think. Many people experience such episodes but dismiss them as vivid dreams. Sometimes sleep paralysis is associated with narcolepsy (a neurological condition characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness), but there are many sufferers of sleep paralysis without signs of any other neurological condition. Actually paralysis normally occurs in REM sleep, thus preventing preventing the body from manifesting movements made in the dreams.
Stress, the sleeping position, sleep deprivation, environmental changes are factors that increase the likelihood of sleep paralysis.

Sleep paralysis cannot be cured but there are techniques that someone can try to break an episode or even prevent it (more info here).

You may wonder what's in common with sleep paralysis and aliens or demons and such spectres. As aforementioned audio and visual hallucinations can coexist with sleep paralysis. As a result it's possible for a person that claims to be abducted by aliens or have a nocturnal encounter with a fantasy night creature to be in fact a sufferer of sleep paralysis. If you're interested in some sleep paralysis related explanations of paranormal phenomena check out the following links: 1, 2, 3