There are a huge number of people who have witnessed this unusual condition. When they are trying to get up from the bed or when they are falling asleep they simply can’t turn on the other side. They can’t move their legs and arms and feel like they are paralyzed.
As if this wasn’t enough, they start to notice that something is creeping from the dark and going after them. It usually lurks from some dark corner of the bedroom and slowly goes towards you. Once again, people try to move or even scream but without any success. There are cases when people feel that someone is choking them.
All of a sudden you are paralyzed in your bed. The only thing you can do is to watch the strange creature sitting in your room, but of course, you are all alone in the room. Have you experienced something like this?
This condition is called sleep paralysis and according to many people, this is one of the scariest health conditions. It is crucial to remember that you should not panic because this is a harmless condition and it can be explained.
In the past, when scientific studies were unavailable, people often considered that they were visited by some supernatural creature or force. Some of them were convinced that the devil or some demons were playing tricks in their bedroom. Of course, these are only tales with no scientific backup. Modern scientists were able to explain this condition thoroughly.
It turns out that sleep paralysis happens when the mind of the individual who is asleep is actually awake, but the body is sleeping. It is possible to experience this condition when you are falling asleep, but in most cases, it happens when you are trying to wake up.
The body and the mind are in a rare and special point between reality and dreaming and this is why you experience these odd things. Sleep paralysis is caused by a completely natural thing because it appears when people are in REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep) which means when they are dreaming. In other words, the strange, creepy shadows and creatures around you are a product of your imagination – hallucinations.
People are convinced that they are conscious, but their mind is not awake and this is the reason why everything around you looks real. Now that you know what sleep paralysis is, let’s see how we can prevent its occurrence.
One of the first things you should do is to analyze your sleep routine and see whether you are sleeping well. You should also check some other things that result in sleep paralysis like watching horror movies before bedtime or constant feeling of anxiety.
Try to eliminate stress and find a way to become completely relaxed before you fall asleep. If you go to bed relieved from stress, it is very likely that you will sleep tightly. In case this doesn’t work, you should check the medical history of your family. Those who are part of a family that has a history of sleep problems and those who are taking certain medications are probably prone to these episodes.
If nothing works, ask your doctor for an opinion. What is most important is that you now know that there are no strange creatures in your bedroom.