Sleep Paralysis Issues - Essay Example

Sleep Paralysis. Introduction. Sleep Paralysis is among many, one of the most widely talked about and feared sleep disorders. Intimidating as its effects seems to be, it appears to be getting equally worrying for researchers having had discovered no exact causes for the phenomenon. J. A Cheyne1 who has done an extensive research on sleep paralysis in his website defines the occurrence as “ a condition in which someone, most often lying in a supine position, about to drop off to sleep, or just upon waking from sleep realizes that s/he is unable to move, or speak, or cry out.” The experience might often accompany with the feeling of an entity’s presence in the room and sometimes it gives an experience of strange sounds. Gregory Stores (2001, P. 21) argues that “the episode of paralysis may be accompanied by hallucinatory experiences or dreamlike experiences which can be very dramatic and alarming, sometimes including the appearance of people or creatures taking on a threatening aspect.” It was often believed until modern rationality took over the realm of thought in people that occurrences of such disorders were due to the influence of demonic and spiritual effect in vulnerable humans. David J. Hufford (1982), in his book2 exhaustively discusses this belief referring it to the “old hag” tradition that he learnt particularly form Newfoundland. Scientific theories, and approaches, on the other hand, have been devised with not one with solid hold on its understanding. In this paper, we shall make an attempt in understanding the phenomenon of sleep paralysis with various angles, particularly scientific and dogmatic. We shall try and find out its symptoms or the experience while it occurs and subsequently try to unveil its causes, scientific or otherwise. We shall then study its effects in human psychology or thought. A few direct experiences of people shall be quoted and a possibility of its cure or precaution shall also be analyzed before concluding. The experience. The occurrence of sleep paralysis is indeed intimidating and troublesome. It seems, to many, a trance-like situation where our body with its inability to perform movement or even to cry out for help remains still, as though spell-bound by some strange demonic or spiritual cause until we are relieved suddenly from a grip what was rigid and ominous indeed. It occurs just before we fall asleep or as we are awakening. Dr. Rose Windale (2008) in her website of health and wellness tips describes the experience as thus: “A person may struggle to breathe while experiencing sleep paralysis. One can hear voices or whispering in their ears. Then comes what seems to be a bewildering sensation- that of floating and being out of the body.” A pressure that is felt on the chest which is seemingly perpetrated by the entity that one feels the presence of is another terror that one experiences. Owen Devies (2003) underlines this feeling “of a heavy pressure on the chest, choking sensations, and hypnagogic (accompanying falling asleep) and hypnopompic (accompanying waking from sleep) hallucinations” during the sleep paralysis. This nightmarish experiences can be attributed to other accounts of people who have reported to have felt being nocturnally oppressed, especially by the chest or sometimes by the hands and limbs by such supernatural beings as the Devil, animalistic fairies, and spirits of the dead (Devies, 2003). The feeling of “mere presence” as Cheyne1 points out remains the most sensed experience of those who have undergone the paralysis. The presence of an entity, an animalistic or devilish creature is mostly felt while sometimes they are seen by some. However Cheyne argues: Often the sensed presence is described as just that, a neutral, or perhaps slightly uneasy, feeling that someone or something is present in a room or surrounding area with the person. As a "mere presence" this experience has no sensory associates, nor does it provoke a strong emotional reaction or complex interpretations. One has the definite impression that there is something external to oneself yet with no confirming sensory experience of that entity.  Associations have been made between sleep paralysis and the disturbance of the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which plays an important role in sound sleep. Sleep paralysis is therefore sometimes considered to occur during the REM, for, “those affected by sleep paralysis can see and hear, because under REM sleep there is intense central nervous system activity, but they are unable to make significant movements, because muscle activity is suppressed” (Devies, 2003). Many incomprehensible sounds are heard too and the paralysis might occur mostly for a few minutes while there are cases of the same lasting for half an hour (Devies, 2003). Many surveys suggest that between 25-30% of the population reports that they have experienced at least a mild form of sleep paralysis at least once and about 20-30% of these have had the experience on several occasions (Cheyne). Scott Bradner (2005) in his column (that satirizes the telecommunication system) describes the work of Harvard researcher Susan Clancy who is said to have attributed the alien-abduction-experience that his patients felt, to be the sleep paralysis. Brandner (2005) describes the ‘Clancy-theory’ as thus: “you can be peacefully sleeping away, dreaming of slowly meandering through green pastures or building elaborate sand castles beside tranquil seas, and wake up unable to move, thinking that you are in the company of aliens who are probing your every orifice.” The Causes. Numerous researches have been conducted world-wide to unveil the causes of this strange phenomenon. None however have been proved to be sufficiently influential. People, more often than not consider the happening, having influenced by the age-old cultures and believes, to have been caused by witchcraft activities, spells, or some demonic psychic interferences. Windale, (2008) argues that “Sleep paralysis has been widely recognized by the medical profession, although it has to be determined what it really is, or what causes it.” There are, none-the-less, many explanations to this occurrence. Allan J. Cheyne (Cheyne A. J., 2006), in his journal entry (also in his site) underlines primarily, the association of REM sleep with sleep paralysis: “SP is generally considered to be a rapid eye movement (REM)-related phenomenon with experimental evidence of SP occurring during sleep-onset REM periods (SOREMPs), defined as periods of REM sleep occurring within 10–25 min of sleep onset”. Not for a different reason does Phyllis A. Balch (2006, p 590) argue that sleep paralysis is the symptoms that define narcolepsy: “many doctors feel that sleep paralysis is similar to cataplexy and to the state that accompanies REM sleep, in which motor activity is inhibited even though the brain is active”. The explanation therefore, takes the shape as thus: the REM sleep interferes or accompanies in the waking or getting-to-sleep state thereby causing the experience of sleep paralysis, for the characteristics of the two are alike with the similarity being that REM sleep lacks the bodily movement but not the hallucination. Barlow and Durand’s (2009 p.136) argument seems to agree with this take: “one possible explanation is that REM sleep is spilling over into the waking cycle. This seems likely because one feature of REM sleep is lack of bodily movement. Another is vivid dreams, which could account for the experience of hallucination.” Devies, (2003) points out another explanation of Galan’s view where Galan thinks that the cause of sleep paralysis are gastric disturbances in the stomach. They cause poisonous gases to react adversely in the brain. “The main medical explanations for the experience up to the twentieth century were based upon Galen’s view that it was the result of gastric disturbances. These led either to noxious undigested vapours rising to the head and irritating the nervous system, or alternatively caused a distension of the stomach, which impeded circulation and led to stagnation of the blood.” (Devies, 2003) This view however, does not seem to have been discussed widely. People often consider dogmatically that the sleep paralysis is caused by sorcerers who cause sprits to attack the victims while they are asleep. Bruce Bower (2005) in his cover story interviews a women who suffered from frequent sleep paralysis: “She… related her worries that a sorcerer would make the spirits enter her body, causing insanity, or will instruct the spirits to place objects inside her, causing anxiety and physical illness.” Bower (2005) in the story also interviews David J. Hufford who wrote extensively on the “old hag tradition” (belief of an ugly, old, malicious woman to have caused the smother over the chest during the sleep paralysis). Hufford is quoted to have said, “Sleep paralysis embodies a universal, biologically based explanation for pervasive beliefs in spirits and supernatural beings, even in the United States”. Hufford (1982, p.14) in his own book argues the lack of the logic in people’s superstitious beliefs calling it the “role of personal experience”: …the tradition shapes the dreams of those who know and believe it, such dreams being misinterpreted by the believer as a waking experience; narrators of traditional Old Hag accounts improve their stories by claiming firsthand knowledge of a case; hoaxes and intentionally caused experiences appear unlikely given the nature of the experience, although some culturally shaped, drug-induced experiences are possible; psychotic hallucinations occurring within the context of this tradition are sometimes influenced by it. The fantastic reasons of the supernatural as the cause for the sleep paralysis holds strong even today. This appears inevitable in the current face when no definite reason can be pinned on. Schenck (2007, p.167) agrees that “it’s still difficult to explain why large numbers of people all around the world with sleep paralysis share the same types of hallucinations”. The intrusions of the atonia (lack of movement) of REM sleep into wake-sleep and sleep-wake transitional states, however, are considered the most likely cause (Schenck, 2007). The Effects. The causes of the occurrence of the sleep paralysis seem to be psychological. However, psychological malfunction could be the effect rather than the cause of the paralysis. Shaped by the traditional beliefs, the anxiety and fear that the phenomenon could have been caused by the demonic force such as sorcerer or the “old hag” that Hufford talks about, is enough reason for people to be psychologically effected whether or not psychological dysfunction were the actual cause. Balch’s (2006) claim that the sleep paralysis is the “symptom of Narcolepsy” suggests that sleep paralysis is a major reason for the lack of sleep which causes the strage condition of Narcolepsy, (sudden sleep while awake). A man’s account of his experience suggest his psychological effect that sleep paralysis caused him: “I feel fairly certain that if I let the apparitions get all the way up to me, they will kill me. I have fought out of this to prevent getting too close to the possibility. Each time it happens, I am scared they will kill me, especially if I let them take me out of my body.” (Cheyne J. ) People’s Accounts. Finding out what exactly happens while this sleep paralysis occurs would entail the actual accounts of people who have undergone it. 25-30% of the population reports that they have experienced at least a mild form of sleep paralysis at least once (Cheyne J. ). Yet it is interesting to find variety in people’s experience as they are reported in Cheyne’s website3. One narrates: “I once woke up to what I thought was a man leaning over me in bed who had my right arm in a tight grip, holding me down on the bed. The man just had me pinned by the wrist and I was frozen for what seemed like forever staring up into his face (probably lasted less than a minute).” Another claims, “I heard pure tones of sound, but it wasn’t music.  It was very erratic and unorganized” “Right as it starts, I feel like Im being electrocuted slowly.” And it continues, quite contradictorily, “Maybe I might feel numb. Its really hard to tell when you cant move if youre numb or not. I definitely dont feel any tingling.” Bower,( 2005) reports people to have found “a half-snake/half-human thing shouting gibberish in my ear” while another “saw a shadow of a moving figure, arms outstretched, and I was absolutely sure it was supernatural and evil." Bower, (2005) also reports Hufford who was once himself a sufferer of sleep paralysis who is reported to have confessed that no evils or demons appear in reality: “We need to deeply question 2 centuries of assumptions about the nonempirical and nonrational nature of spirit belief”. Precaution and cure. Schenck (2007, p.172) argues that no medical treatment is likely to be possible since Sleep Paralysis acts both as the symptom of Narcolepsy as well as an independent condition. The treatment would depend open individual needs given the large psychological and cultural dimensions it has. The need to treat the conditions is to eradicate the concerns and fears that it beings both to the sufferer as well his family members. The conditions further leads to anxiety and psychological malfunction and in its most severe case can result into “sleep-phobia (Schenck, 2007). Many of whom suffering form the SP “fail to talk to a doctor about it, perhaps worrying they might be regarded as insane…we know now that SP is not an indicator of mental illness…so a consultation with a sleep doctor may be a smart idea” (Schenck, 2007). Stress is one very important factor that causes the condition and in any case must be avoided. Cheyne4 argues that those who had experienced sleep paralysis many years ago “had gone for many years without any problems until they began to experience family, professional, or job-related stress”. Among many other ways, Schenck (2007) proposes techniques such as altering your sleep positions, making small motions, attempting to make a noise such as a cough, and taking medicine that corrects REM sleep as remedies. The most important way to overcome this condition is by “knowing that (it) is not an instance of demonic possession or an antagonistic act of witchcraft – that it’s simply a physical condition based on a badly timed sleep cycle…” (Schenck, 2007, p.175) Conclusion. Sleep Paralysis among many other sleep disorders is a widely talked about and feared condition. The paralysis in most occasions not just makes people suffer physically but also intimidates them of its very stark nature. Researchers, given its various psychological, mental and cultural components have not been able to come to specific conclusions relating to its causes. However among many assumptions, the intrusion and hence, the association of the REM sleep as against the sleep paralysis is thought to be the most apparent reason. The condition is also quite popularly understood to a precursor and a symptom of the other sleep disorder called Narcolepsy. Sleep Paralysis mostly occurs just while getting to sleep or while being in process of waking. Its experience involves inability to move and breathe while the feeling of being smothered on the chest is universal among all sufferers. Some hear strange sounds while some feel the presence or even attacks of strange creatures such as an “old hag” although Hufford (1982) argues that they are assumptions based on dogmatic and cultural beliefs. Remaining stress-free, changing sleeping position and medication are among many the frequently advised treatments against sleep paralysis while, the most important one seems to be the realization that “sleep paralysis is not dangerous, and not a sign of impending insanity or death. It may be scary, but it’s temporary” (Schenck, 2007. P.175) Works Cited Balch, P. A. (2006). Priscription for Ntritition Healing (4th ed.). New York: Penguin Group. Barlow, D. H., & Durand, M. (2009). Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Aproach (5th ed.). Belmont, The USA.: Wordsworth Cengage Learning. Bower, B. (2005, July 9). Night of the Crusher: the waking nightmare of sleep parelysis propels people into a spirit world. Science News 168.2 , p. 27. Brandner, S. (2005, October 3). Sleep Paralysis and the Phone Biz.(management of telecommunications industry). Network World , p. 34. Cheyne, A. J. (2006). Timing of Spontaneous lSeep-Paralysis Episodes. Journal of Sleep Research , 15 (2), 222-229. Cheyne, J. (n.d.). A website about Sleep Paralysis and Associated Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic Experiences. Retrieved November 15, 2009, from watarts.uwaterloo.ca: http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P2.html Devies, O. (2003). The Nightmare Experience, Sleep Paralysis, and Witchcraft Accusations. Folklore , 114 (2), 181-203. Hufford, D. J. (1982). The Terror That Comes in the Night: An experience-centered study of supernatural assault tradition. Philadelphia, Pynnsylvania: The University of Pynnsylvania Press. Schenck, C. (2007). Sleep: The Mysteries, the Problems, and the Solutions. New York: Penguin Group Inc. Stores, G. (2001). A Clinical Guide to Sleep Disorders in Children and Adlosecents. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Windale, R. (2008, August 22). The Puzzling Phenomenon Of Sleep Paralysis. Retrieved November 15, 2009, from Health & Wellness Tips website: http://www.healthzine.org/Sleep-disorder/sleep-paralysis1 Read More