Sleep Disorders

Sleep Paralysis

This disorder is characterized by temporary paralysis of the body just after the patient wakes up (medically known as hypnopompic paralysis) and just after the patient falls asleep (medically known as hypnagogic paralysis).

When a person is in REM period of sleep, his body is naturally paralyzed. This condition is medically known as REM atonia among the medical fraternity. Sometimes his brain comes out of that phase while the body is yet to follow suit. During the period, he can see everything feel everything but cannot move his limbs. Many a time he sees surrealist objects alongside normal objects in his field of vision. Some experts have described this state as “lucid dream”.

Very little has been clinically concluded about this temporary paralysis of the body. Some experts say that the drop in the levels of melatonin during RM period of sleep may on a few occasions take some time to come back to the normal level and the body remains temporary paralyzed during this interregnum.

Doctors have pointed towards certain factors which may aggravate the chances of an attack of sleep paralysis. They are:

Increased levels of stress
Irregular or insufficient sleep
Use of hallucinogenic drugs
Sleeping while lying on ones back

The list is in no way exhaustive, and, in any case all these factors have been whittled down through observation, by certain experts, and are not backed by any solid clinical proof.

Almost everyone suffers at least once or twice from sleep paralysis during our life time. There is nothing much to worry about from that.

However, if a person feels that he or she needs medical attention then that person is asked to try and move their limbs while the attack is on. If that is not possible for to do then they are asked to try and move the facial muscles and if that too is not possible then at least rotate the eyes once in a clockwise and then in an anti-clockwise manner. This action generally brings the person out of the paralytic state.

For the more acute cases, it has been observed that a small dose of Clonazepam helps to relieve the symptoms remarkably.