Essay: Uncover the Unexplained: Hallucinating Sleep Paralysis

Introduction
Hallucinating Sleep Paralysis has been an unexplainable mystery throughout science and diverse cultures. Hallucinating sleep paralysis is when the brain thinks it is hearing, seeing, smelling, or feeling something that is not there. Hallucinating sleep paralysis has fascinated people because when one experiences it, it leaves that person curious and concerned. Browsing online can be complicated yet intimidating by the different theories that can grasp the viewer’s attention. The concern with hallucinating sleep paralysis is that when it transpires, it can alarm an individual and cause serious health effects, such as hyperventilation. Hallucinating sleep paralysis is common and affects 1 in 3 individuals. This occurrence can be a scary moment especially if it is the first time it has ever happened. Senses get involved making it feel like an out-of-body experience. During these episodes, people experienced different sounds like talking, and even saw figures that looked as if it was there. Another part of hallucinating during sleep paralysis is feeling as if something was holding one down tightly. All these feelings are a part of the hallucination portion of sleep paralysis. The hallucinations make individuals think deeply and wonder if it is not only the mind playing tricks. People think of hallucinating sleep paralysis as the scientific way the body forgets to wake up. However, others think of it spiritually, meaning demons and ghosts. The actual cause is still an ongoing investigation, however, there are potential analyses, from not only scientist but people, on why hallucinating sleep paralysis transpires and behaviors to prevent it.
Background
Sleep paralysis is the newest term for this issue which has been examined for hundreds of years. Incubus or Night-Mare was the name given to the initial medical description of sleep paralysis announced in 1664 by a Dutch general practitioner. In 1977, in various South Korean Asian communities, one hundred previously healthy people died mysteriously in their sleep. There was never an explanation of why this transpired, but researchers later found out that sleep paralysis stood at its highest rate then. Today, scientists explained these disturbances are due to unsuitable timing during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Not only is sleep paralysis an interesting topic to discuss because of how mysterious it is, but it also has interesting facts that people do not know about. Sleep paralysis is not life-threatening from scientists’ point of view; however, it can cause anxiety. The individual that is going through the sleep paralysis process cannot speak. This is because the mouth cannot move along with the rest of the body. When one starts to see, hear, and/or feel touch these beings the hallucinating period of sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis may be linked to narcolepsy. An individual with narcolepsy tends to fall asleep excessively in relaxing environments. The brain chemical hypocretin is lost or damaged in narcoleptics. In addition to helping the body stay alert, hypocretin controls sleep-wake cycles. Sleeping on the back can also cause sleep paralysis to occur. According to researchers, individuals who sleep on their backsides regularly encounter sleep paralysis more frequently than in other positions. Scientists and societies descriptions of why this event transpires both seem sensible. (Sleep Paralysis and Folklore, Cox 2015)
Arguments
Scientists’ study on sleep paralysis is that these episodes are a part of the sleeping process and are natural and not life-threatening. Scientists define sleep paralysis as the feeling of being conscious but incapable of moving. Researchers say the hallucinations associated with sleep paralysis do not have any valid reasonings behind them. Scientists believe that sleep paralysis is not a serious condition. The potential causes may be sleeping disorders, stimulating substances, stress, jet lag, and medication. Scientists believe that sleep paralysis arises in a person before their rapid eye movement (REM) cycle is complete. During this cycle, the person has vivid dreams whereas the muscles are unable to maneuver. This happens so the person does not perform the dream causing them to hurt themselves. When one wakes up before the REM cycle is over, that is where sleep paralysis plays its part. Hallucinations come about throughout the interrupted border among dreaming and being awake. Therefore, when people experience sleep paralysis, their dreams may become even more vivid than normal. Researchers consider stress and anxiety may have impact on these episodes. Stress and anxiety can keep one up at night, unsettling your sleep rotations and forms. Even when sleeping someone is sleeping on their back, they are prone to activating sleep paralysis. In an article named “10 Terrifying Facts About Sleep Paralysis”, it states, “According to researchers who conducted the sleep paralysis project, people who sleep on their back often experience sleep paralysis more than any other sleep position” (Khuong 2017) The author, a research blogger named Tai Khuong, explained how sleeping on the back can cause sleep paralysis to happen frequently. Scientists’ investigation on sleep paralysis has reasonable interpretations, but culture too has interpretations of their own. (Khuong 2017)
Cultures perspectives on hallucinating sleep paralysis is utterly different than what scientists believe is befalling during these episodes. The one word that all cultures have in common when they speak about sleep paralysis is demons. Most people believe that there is a monster or demon that attacks humans through the night. The western concept of the nightmare emerged from a myth of the incubus. In the text, The Cures and Demons of Sleep Paralysis,” the author Sarah Jaffray writes, “From ancient Mesopotamia (c. 2000 BCE) to the Roman Empire, a demon known as the incubus was responsible for your bad dreams. Originating from the Latin ‘to sit on,’ the incubus sat on top of your chest inducing horrifying dreams and physical immobility, making it the first documented explanation of sleep paralysis” (Jaffray). They believed that there was a demon that sat on their chest and physically paralyzed them so the monster could persuade terrifying dreams onto them. Another culturized demon that is a myth is the mara or the “Old Hag,” who is a person that ‘rides’ its victims for the pleasure of wickedness. The mara shifts into the Old Hag when Shakespeare, an English playwright, poet, and actor, appropriates it in his tragedy “Romeo and Juliet.” A cure for sleep paralysis in the early Christian era was prayers and exorism. Today, the demon of sleep paralysis has converted again, altering in the form of aliens trying to abduct humans. There are no cures, but ways to prevent this occurrence from happening frequently. (Jaffray, Sarah “The Cures and Demons of Sleep Paralysis.” 2016)
Prohibiting sleep paralysis is diverse for researchers and people beliefs. Not many cultures have an explanation on how to treat sleep paralysis. In earlier days, Greek physicians achieved sleep paralysis by putting individuals through special diets. To be able to prevent this problem, Italians used to sleep facedown and place a broom on the door with a pile of sand on the bed. Christians believed that sleep paralysis was a demonic ownership and assumed the treatment to that was prayers and exorcism; Chinese trusted in this remedy also. Scientists, however, have various answers on how to prevent these incidents. Sleeping on the side instead of your back is a treatment because the condition is triggered by this action for most people. Being calm and understanding what is happening, this can release the paralysis faster. When having a traditional sleep schedule this can keep the sleep cycle on target. Medication is only prescribed if narcolepsy is an underlying concern. These treatments are not a cure for sleep paralysis, but a way scientists or society believe can help prevent sleep paralysis. (Esther Olunu et al. 2018)
Conclusion
In completion, sleep paralysis is not a fatal experience. Sleep paralysis is more of a nightmare or hallucination. Now that scientists have explained this theory, people know that sleep paralysis is often recognized as an interruption of the sleep cycle, as an explanation of sleep paralysis has been offered scientifically. There are also cultures that believe it is demons that attacked their victims through the night. Although there is no cure, there are treatments to avoid this incidence from happening frequently. Physicians believe treatments can be as simple as sleeping in a different position than your backside. Other societies trust that eating special diets, having exorcisms, or even medication if prescribed can cure this from taking place. The hallucinations of sleep paralysis are still not confirmed, and scientists are still developing research on this topic. No matter the amount of research scientists provide, hallucinating sleep paralysis will forever be a diverse topic. Cultures have been carrying these theories down in history because people still trust these myths to this day. In conclusion, sleep paralysis is more of a bad dream or a hallucination that occurs when the body is not fully complete or the rapid eye movement cycle of sleep.