Mitchell Lund

Dr. Mitchell

UWRT 1103-003

March 26, 2018

The Origin of a Nightmare

It is natural for anyone to get sleepy as the day begins to come to an end. Sleep is

something that everyone experiences, usually when the sun goes down, in order to rest up for the

upcoming day. The body needs this in order to replenish energy that is lost throughout the day.

That is why usually after a long day of mental and/or physical strain, a nap or a good night’s

sleep is needed in order to function. When we sleep, our brain falls into one of two states: Rapid

Eye Movement (REM) sleep and Non-REM sleep. REM sleep is characterized by heightened

dream activity and generally takes place when we are first falling asleep or when we are

beginning to wake up.

Although this seems like a pleasant experience, this is not always the case. Imagine

yourself waking up in the middle of the night, looking around the room and realizing that you are

not allowed to move your head. In fact, you are not able to move anything at all, you are

completely paralyzed with your eyes being the only exception. It feels almost as if a weight is on

your chest and breathing has become labored. Panicking, you try to call out for help only to

realize that you also cannot speak. This strange phenomenon in which all bodily functions are

suspended isn’t just a nightmare that you can wake up from. It is called Sleep Paralysis and is

estimated to happen at least once in everyone’s lifetime. Not to worry though, this is not

permanent and will only last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.
Why Does This Happen?

When the brain is transitioning into REM sleep, it paralyzes the muscles throughout the

body so that a person will not act out whatever they are dreaming. This can almost be explained

as the bodies safety feature to protect us from hurting ourselves during the dreaming stage.

However, when the brain wakes up before this transition is complete, you may find yourself

aware that you are awake but you are not able to move anything since the body and muscles are

still asleep. Doesn’t really seem like a bad experience after all right? Well, not quite.

History of Sleep Paralysis

In some occurrences, the feeling of being paralyzed is also accompanied by the feeling of

an evil presence. One account from “Sleep Paralysis Night-Mares, Nocebos, and the Mind-Body

Connection” says, “With sudden, sickening dread and overwhelming terror, you sense an evil

presence approaching. You struggle and try to scream for help, but you still cannot move or

make a sound. The sinister being looms over you for a moment, then climbs onto your bed and

settles heavily on your chest, crushing the breath out of you” (Adler 8). This account explains

why Sleep Paralysis can be a chilling experience, because hallucinations are often involved. This

phenomenon dates as far back as 1781, being portrayed in a painting titled “The Nightmare” by

Henry Fuseli. In the painting, a small demon (or “mare” as they were referred to back then) sits

on the chest of a sleeping woman. In history, this happening has always had a paranormal

explanation. Back then, people believed this was caused by a “mare.” A mare in folklore is “a

demonic night spirit of oppression” (Eric Edwards Collected Works) which came in the

nighttime, hence the origin of the word night-mare. This was all believed in a time where a
scientific explanation was not readily available, so whenever one would experience Sleep

Paralysis, they believed that they had been visited by this night-mare.

Since every human sleeps, this means that people from many different cultures have

either experienced or will experience this. Over the course of many years, cultures developed

their own explanation and meaning of Sleep Paralysis. For example, “In Japan sleep paralysis is

called ‘kanashibari.’ The term is rooted in Buddhism; long ago it was believed that Buddhist

monks could use magic to paralyze others. In Newfoundland sleep paralysis has been called an

attack of ‘Old Hag.’ In China, it has been labeled “ghost oppression.” A new study reports that in

Mexico people may say that sleep paralysis feels like “a dead body climbed on top of me”

(Heffron). Before science knew the meaning behind this, people of many different cultures were

left to find their own explanations as shown in the previous quote. A lot of beliefs across the

world seemed to be similar to one another no matter where they originated from.

Psychological and Scientific Explanation

With all the technological and scientific advances, today Sleep Paralysis has a different

explanation to it. As explained earlier, when the brain wakes up from REM sleep before the body

does, it leaves the person paralyzed but aware that they are awake. Sleep experiments have been

conducted in order to link Sleep Paralysis to the REM sleep state. A study by J. Allan Cheyne

and his associates dove deep into the science of Sleep Paralysis. The study in itself covered a

large majority of areas and all of them cannot be covered. However, it was reported that

“Women were significantly more likely to report SP (32.4%) than were men (21.4%)” (Cheyne

323). These studies covered everything from links between sex and age of the test subject and

whether this led to more Sleep Paralysis experiences. The study also included what was felt by
the subject during the episode such as sensed presence, fear, auditory hallucinations and visual

hallucinations. Scientists are beginning to believe that “sleep paralysis is more likely when your

sleep is disrupted in some way — perhaps because you've been traveling, you're too hot or too

cold, or you're sleeping in an unfamiliar or spooky place. Those tendencies may make it more

likely that a person will experience sleep paralysis when already vulnerable to thoughts of ghosts

and ghouls” (Pappas). It seems as if the hallucinations that people experience are fragments of

the dreams that they were having, or they were already in a situation that caused them to see the

things they were afraid of.

As for what causes Sleep Paralysis, there is no exact root cause for this phenomenon.

However, scientists have linked different things that can possibly bring on an episode of this

such as: “…sleep deprivation, some medications and some sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea...

commonly seen in patients with narcolepsy, said Dr. Shelby Harris, director of Behavioral Sleep

Medicine at the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at the Montefiore Health System in the Bronx,

New York” (Bradford). As noted in the previous quotation, there are things that can possibly

trigger Sleep Paralysis, but as for a particular cause, there is not one. Just because none of these

triggers apply to a particular person does not mean they will not ever experience this. Other

factors that have been linked to Sleep Paralysis are talked about in Alina Bradford’s article. She

also says, “According to the Mayo Clinic, this disorder is more likely to happen to people

between the ages of 10 and 25… Sleep paralysis may also be genetic... People with mental

disorders such as anxiety and depression are more likely to experience sleep paralysis. According

to the study, 31.9 percent of those with mental disorders experienced episodes.” There are likely

many other factors that can influence Sleep Paralysis, but this is just a few that are listed.
Treatment

Similarly, because there is no exact cause, there is also no cure for this. We can’t really prevent

ourselves from sleeping because that would have far worse consequences for our health both

mentally and physically. The only thing that can possibly help a chronic sufferer of Sleep

Paralysis is to correct any of the possible triggers that are listed above. For example, if someone

suffers from Sleep Paralysis and realizes that they have not been getting enough sleep throughout

the night, correcting their sleep schedule and getting a full night of sleep may possibly decrease

the likelihood of them experiencing an episode. Alina Bradford also brings out in her article that

“The key is prevention and the treatment of any underlying causes.” If this is attempted with no

luck, and episodes are more frequent, it may help to “see a sleep specialist to see if there's any

underlying medical disorder that might be causing the sleep paralysis” (Bradford). Not to worry

too much though that there is no proven cure, because although Sleep Paralysis can be a

frightening experience, it is not harmful and episodes will generally pass within a maximum of a

few minutes.

Conclusion

Sleep Paralysis is a strange phenomenon that has most likely been around as long as

humans have been sleeping. Throughout time, many different experiences have been recorded all

over the world. At first, this was suspected to be caused by a paranormal night spirit that would

visit people in their sleep and sit on their chest. As time went on, and more studies on this

occurred, it was explained to be psychological experience where the brain would wake up before

the muscles of the body did. Whatever is believed to be the cause of Sleep Paralysis, one thing is

for sure. That is, Sleep Paralysis is not an experience that affects physical health.
 Works Cited

Adler, Shelley R. Sleep Paralysis: Night-mares, Nocebos, and the Mind-Body Connection. New
Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, 2011 .

Bradford, Alina. Sleep Paralysis: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment. 13 September 2017. 30 March
2018. <https://www.livescience.com/50876-sleep-paralysis.html>.

Cheyne, J. Allan. "Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic Hallucinations during Sleep Paralysis:

Neurological and Cultural Construction of the Night-Mare." Consciousness and Cognition
8.3 (1999): 319-337.

Eric Edwards Collected Works. The Folklore of the Night Mare. 16 October 2013. 27 March
2018. <https://ericwedwards.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/the-folkore-of-the-
nightmare/>.

Heffron, Thomas. Sleep paralysis: The devil, the ghost & the Old Hag. 28 July 2009. 27 March
2018. <http://www.sleepeducation.org/news/2009/07/29/sleep-paralysis-the-devil-the-
ghost-the-old-hag>.

Pappas, Stephanie. Strange Sleep Disorder Makes People See 'Demons". 31 March 2013. 27
March 2018. <https://www.livescience.com/28325-spooky-film-explores-sleep-
paralysis.html>.