Sleep paralysis is something no one wants to experience and not many people do, but the truth is it can happen to anyone especially in modern society because we are all up at night on our phones until the crack of dawn. Many accounts of sleep paralysis are absolutely terrifying. In common they all tend to link not being able to move hence paralysis, and hallucinations.

So what is sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis is a temporary inability to move believed to happen when people are either falling into or waking from REM sleep. Scientists believe this is because when you fall into rem sleep (the stage of sleep in which you dream) your brain paralyzes your muscles so you don’t act out your dreams. The hallucinations are down to your brain not finishing REM (dreaming) therefore you are still technically dreaming but you are conscious. The feeling of paralysis usually passes in seconds of waking up however it can last for several minutes.

The myths and legends behind sleep paralysis

Sleep paralysis has had several myths and legends created about it, but the most common one is “The Night Hag”. The night hag is the name given to a fictional supernatural creature that is used to describe sleep paralysis. This was originally created by Henry Fuseli in 1781 in a painting. There are many other myths in other countries about a specific ghost or figure related to sleep paralysis.

How to make sure you don’t experience it yourself

So what causes sleep paralysis? Well there are many different factors that can contribute to it but some common causes are stress, lack of sleep, a change in sleeping schedule and use of certain medication. Exceptionally weird is the fact that it can simply be cause by sleeping on your back which is quite scary when you think about it.

So to prevent sleep paralysis happening to you make sure you have good sleeping habits and if you’re very superstitious than maybe don’t sleep on your back.