Weird case of sleeping paralysis

Hi Antonia,

I've had this for the past 50 years and am also a former neuro nurse, so I really do know something about it from both ends!

The first thing to know is that it's completely harmless. This is something suffered by something like 2-5% of the general population, and about half of the people who get it have hallucinations during the paralysis. I suspect this is why we don't hear more about it, even though it's relatively common. (Who wants to tell all their friends they're seeing, hearing, feeling or even smelling things that aren't really there?!)

First of all, an explanation. We all go in and out of REM (dreaming) sleep throughout the night, regardless of whether we remember our dreams or not. When we're in REM sleep our brains put out a hormone that paralyses our voluntary muscles (but NOT things like heart or breathing) so we don't all jump up and start acting out our dreams. In some people, this can continue for a few seconds after they wake, or even start a few seconds after they've fallen asleep.

Because this is related to dream sleep, the unconscious mind can get loose during the paralysis and cause all sorts of problems. This doesn't happen to everyone who gets sleep paralysis, but it certainly happens to me. It can cause hallucinations affecting any one of the senses, including proprioception. That's the sense that lets you know the position of your arms, legs etc. even when you're not looking at them.

I'd like to stress here that the sleep paralysis experience isn't a dream. As your friend will know, you're wide awake during this time. However, your unconscious mind is still producing dream material.

I can sympathise with your friend. I too have tactile and proprioceptive hallucinations during sleep paralysis, as well as occasionally hearing things that aren't there. In my case too, these take the form of seeming to move my arms and legs and get hold of the "presence". But I figured out a long time ago that I'm not moving my real body at all - this is all part of the hallucination. I often think I've turned over to grab at something, only to wake and find myself really lying on the opposite side. If your friend concentrated hard during an attack like this, she'd be able to feel both "bodies". Only the paralysed, physical body is real, of course. The other one is generated by the unconscious mind. Same for the screaming. You can hallucinate that you're screaming too. I do that sometimes. I think I'm really screaming, but people who've witnessed this tell me either I was silent or I was making a little squawking noise!

Your friend really doesn't need to worry about this. It may be that this is the only attack she'll ever have. Most people have one or two attacks of sleep paralysis in their lifetime, usually without hallucinations. Some of us get stuck with it for life, but if that happens it's something that becomes very easy to deal with once you know what's going on.

If you or your friend want to contact me again, I'll try and answer any other questions you might have. The important thing is not to get anxious about this.

And don't worry about your English - it's perfectly all right!