Overview Of The Signs Of Sleep Paralysis
Sleep paralysis is quite frightening! Individuals who have this condition will deal with brief periods where they are awake but cannot move. Of course, this must occur at certain times to be considered sleep paralysis! Specifically, it must happen during sleep transitions when patients are waking up or falling asleep. Patients with this condition do not have a smooth sleep cycle!
Most patients do not need treatment for sleep paralysis when they only experience isolated cases. However, treatment is necessary for underlying conditions! For instance, narcolepsy treatment is vital! Most patients take medications for narcolepsy. Therapy for sleep paralysis also helps patients manage their condition. The best options are natural remedies for sleep paralysis. This includes exercising more during the day and practicing stress management for sleep paralysis! However, patients must understand their symptoms before they can get the best sleep paralysis treatment.
Inability To Move Or Speak
Most individuals have smooth sleep transitions. This means that they wake up and fall asleep without issues! However, some individuals are hyperaware of their relaxed state. When this happens, their mind races even though their body is at rest! Thus, although the patient is awake, they experience an inability to move or speak. Their body is split! In other words, their body is asleep while their mind is awake and scared. This feeling often makes patients feel like they are paralyzed. Thankfully, it wears off! However, it is torture while it is happening.
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Feelings Of Fear Or Impending Doom
An individual's body produces extra adrenaline when they are in danger. This prepares them to flee or fight! However, adrenaline has a side effect, which is intense fear. The reason for this is that it is a great way to cause action! Many patients who have panic attacks experience feelings of fear or impending doom. These are also significant signs of sleep paralysis!
This symptom occurs when patients realize that they cannot move. Their brain begins to panic, sending adrenaline throughout their body in an attempt to make them move! Of course, they still will be unable to do so. The result is feeling incredibly afraid. Most patients also feel that something extremely bad is about to occur.
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Difficulty Breathing
As mentioned, patients have adrenaline racing throughout their body during sleep paralysis. This causes their heart to beat faster. Their breathing will also speed up! This reaction is natural, as the blood and adrenaline normally give individuals the energy they need to fight or flee. Of course, this is not possible in sleep paralysis. Thus, patients will be breathing quite heavily and be still. Most patients describe this as their heart feeling like it is about to beat through their chest. Thus, they often feel as if they cannot breathe! At the very least, they will have a hard time doing so. Their chest will not expand fully since it is not able to move. The result is that the patient's lungs cannot expand much either!
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Sleep Hallucinations
Sleep hallucinations are common in this condition. Patients with sleep paralysis deal with auditory, olfactory, and visual hallucinations. Evidence has proven that these sleep hallucinations are connected to a neurological imbalance. Specifically, they are linked to the imbalance that triggers the patient's paralysis initially!
However, research is not clear as to how they are connected. Some believe that part of a patient's brain is still dreaming when they transition from rapid eye movement sleep to non-rapid eye movement sleep. Their dream becomes an intense nightmare. Of course, this also applies to the transition in the opposite direction! The alternative theory is that the hallucinations are the result of the fear, adrenaline, and the nervous system's lack of movement. These researchers believe that the patient's body is trying anything to make it move!
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Paranoia
Sleep paralysis patients, as discussed, are awake but cannot move. They are scared! Many of them believe that there is someone in their room. Others feel like someone is sitting on their chest! This feeling is typically called paranoia. However, researchers also say that it is the patient's mind coming up with an explanation for what they are feeling! It believes the feelings of fear are evidence!
Unfortunately, many patients will deal with this paranoia after their paralysis has disappeared. Other individuals dismissing their feelings often brings it back! This often makes sleep paralysis patients feel that they are keeping them from the truth. Patients are sure that they experienced something, though when they do not have a good explanation, they will feel paranoid.