Scientist reveal more about sleep paralysis

Sleep paralysis don ginger paintings and horror stories.

Now scientists don begin to understand why pipo dey wake up from dreams and no fit move – and why at times dem fit kontinu to hallucinate.

I be teenager wen e first happun. Na for early mor-mor, some hours bifor I gatz get up from bed for school.

I wake up and try to turn ova for bed, but my body no let me – I no fit move, I dey paralyse down to my toes.

Although my brain dey conscious, my muscles still dey asleep. My bedroom dey hot and restrictive, e be like say di walls dey close and I come dey fear. Finally, afta about 15 seconds, di paralysis end. Later, I find one name for wetin happun to me; sleep paralysis.

Surprisingly, na common night-time condition wey be say part of your brain go wake up while your body still remain temporarily paralyse.

Afta dat first fearful incident, e become sometin wey dey always, wit one episode every two or three nights.

Di more e dey happun, di less scary e dey become. At last e come dey little more dan inconvenience.

But sleep paralysis fit dey far more life-affecting. And for some, e dey come wit scary hallucinations.

I speak wit one 24-year-old pesin wey dey suffer from dis and e request make I call only her first name, Victoria.

She remember say e happun one night wen she be 18 years old.

"I wake up and no fit move," she tok. "I see dis gremlin-looking figure wey hide behind my curtain, e jump on my chest. I tink say I go enta anoda dimension. And wetin make me fear pass be say I no fit shout. Di whole tin dey so clear, so real."

Odas dey hallucinate demons, ghosts, aliens, threatening intruders, even dead relatives.

Dem dey see part of dia own bodies dey float for air, or cloned copies of demsef wey stand beside dia bed.

Some dey see angels and later believe say dem get religious experience.

Researchers tink say all dis hallucinations fit don lead to di belief in witches for Early Modern Europe, and fit even explain some modern claims of alien wey dem say dey kidnap pipo.

Scientists tink say sleep paralysis fit probably don dey exist for long as far as human being dey sleep.

Different colourful descriptions of di episodes through literary history na im dey, and Mary Shelley bin get inspiration to write one scene for Frankenstein through one painting wey describe one episode of sleep paralysis.

But until recently research about dis matter dey small

"Na sometin wey pipo dey ignore … but ova di last 10 years interest on di issue don dey plenti,"according to Baland Jalal, wey be sleep researcher for Harvard University wey for 2020 complete wetin fit be di first clinical trial into different ways of treating sleep paralysis. Jalal na one of di few sleep scientists now wey dey invest serious time and energy to research di condition.

Dem dey hope to paint very clear picture of di causes and effects – and find out wetin di condition dey tell us about di broader mysteries of di human brain.

Until recently, little agreement na im dey about how many pipo dey experience sleep paralysis.

For 2011, clinical psychologist Brian Sharpless, wey currently be visiting associate professor for St Mary's College of Maryland, conduct di most comprehensive review of di conditions wey dey common wen e bin dey Pennsylvania State University.

E look data from 35 studies wen don dey like 50 years. All togeda dem include more dan 36,000 volunteers.

Sharpless find out say sleep paralysis dey more common dan wetin dem bin tink bifor, wit almost 8% of adults claiming to don experience am at one point.

Dat figure dey much higher among university students (28%) and psychiatric patients (32%).

"E dey really common," according to Sharpless, wey also be di co-author of Sleep Paralysis: Historical, Psychological, and Medical Perspectives.

Afta experiencing di condition, some go move towards supernatural or even paranormal explanations.

According to Jalal, in reality, di cause dey far more ordinary.

For night, our body dey cycle through four stages of sleep. Di final stage dem call am rapid-eye movement sleep, or "REM". Dis na wen we dey dream.

During REM, your brain go paralyses your muscles, probably to stop you from physically acting out your dreams and wunjure oursef.

But sometimes – and scientists still no dey sure why –di sensory part of your brain emerge from REM prematurely .

Dis dey make you feel awake but di lower part of your brain still dey in REM, and e still sending out neuro transmitters to paralyse your muscles, Jalal tok.

"Di sensory part of di brain go become active, You dey wake up mentally, perceptually – but physically you're still paralysed." Back in my early twenties I experience sleep paralysis every two or three nights, but even den, e no get too much impact on my life. My experience dey common.

"For di majority of pipo, na quirky thing wey dem dey live wit," according to Colin Espie, wey be professor of sleep medicine for di University of Oxford.

"E dey a bit like sleepwalking – most pipo wey dey sleepwalk no ever see a doctor. Na curiosity for di family, sometin to tok about."

But for minority wey no dey lucky, di condition dey more testing.

Sharpless research find out say between 15% and 44% of doz wit sleep paralysis dey experience "clinically significant distress" as a result.

Di problems usually dey arise from how we respond to sleep paralysis, rather dan di condition itsef.

Patients dey find demsef dey worry throughout di daytime about wen di next episode fit happun.

"E fit lead to anxiety for di beginning and end of di night," Espie tok.

"You go grow network of worry and concern around am. Di worst expression of dat na turning into one kind of panic attack.

"For di most serious cases, sleep paralysis fit be sign of underlying narcolepsy – one more serious sleep condition wey di brain dey unable to regulate sleeping and waking patterns, wey fit make pesin sleep for di wrong time.

Doctors say paralysis dey more likely to occur wen you no dey get enof sleep, becos your sleeping pattern no be di same again.

Some pipo wey dey suffer from dis dey also find am more likely wen dem lie down on dia back, though di explanation for dis no dey clear.

Di most common approach to treat sleep paralysis na educational: dem dey simply teach patients about di science behind di condition, and reassure say dem no dey in danger.

Sometimes dem go use one form of meditation therapy. Di aim na to reduce di patient anxiety around going to bed, and to train dem to remain calm wen sleep paralysis strikes.

For more serious cases, dem fit consider drugs – including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), wey dem dey normally use to treat depression but get side-effect of suppressing REM sleep..

suppressing REM sleep.

WIA DIS FOTO COME FROM,GETTY IMAGES

Wetin we call dis foto,

Sleep paralysis with hallucinations. Sleeping problem disorders, parasomnia.

Di most dramatic and memorable episodes of sleep paralysis na normally doz wey dey come wit vivid hallucinations.

Usually dis night visions na source of fear, but scientists also tink dem fit tell us interesting tins about di human brain.

Wen you enta sleep paralysis, your brain motor cortex start to send signals to di body, telling di body to move.

But di muscles dey paralysed, and so di brain no dey get any feedback signals in return.

"sometin no go dey right… Di pesin sef don dey broken up, weak," Jalal tok.

As a result, di brain "fill in di gap", and create im own explanation for why di muscles no fit move.

Dat na why so many hallucinations go be like say one creature dey siddon on your chest or e hold your body down.

E support di idea, popular among evolutionary scientists, of di human brain as "storytelling machine".

We dey struggle to accept di fact say much of di world dey random, and so our brain dey devise dramatic narratives for effort to find meaning in di ordinary.

Christopher French, head of di anomalistic psychology research unit for Goldsmiths, University of London, don spend more dan 10 years speaking to pipo across di world wey don experience dis hallucinations, and recording wetin dem see.

"E get common themes, but e also get huge amount of idiosyncrasy, variability," French tok.

Some hallucinations dey hard to explain – and even very strange.

Ova di years French don record sightings of a frightening looking black cat, and a man wey plant dey strangle.

But odas dey far more common and be like to dey heavily influenced by culture.

For Canada Newfoundland, e dey common to see "Old Hag" wey siddon on your chest.

Mexicans report "dead man" wey lie down on dia chest, while St Lucians tok of "kokma", di souls of unbaptise children, wey dey strangle dem for dia sleep.

Turks describe di "Karabasan" – one mysterious, ghostly creature. Italians dey always hallucinate witches.

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