Sleep Paralysis: A Serious Doctor? 7.6% of the

"I woke up I could not move, I tried to open my mouth but impossible, I was like prisoner of my own body" testifies Andréa, 26 years old.

For Dr. Royant-Parola, sleep specialist, this amounts to living a nightmare awake: "The person who lives a paralysis of sleep will feel completely paralyzed, unable to move, speak, call, let alone shout . The only thing she can do is move her eyes and breathe, it's an extremely scary state. "

Paralysis of sleep: a brain awake in a sleeping body

But how to explain this disorder? Sleep paralysis is an incomplete awakening: the brain is awake, but the body is immersed in REM sleep.

"When we wake up and we can not move, our brain is actually awake, but the pathways that go from the brain to the marrow, and control the muscles of the whole body, result in inhibition of contraction. motor, so paralysis. If the person wakes up at this time, she is awake in the intellectual sense of the word, but her body does not respond. "

An agonizing and oppressive evil

Many people who experience this sleep paralysis describe a feeling of third person presence, or even physical oppression.

As Andréa explains to us:

"I had a feeling of choking on the rib cage and a presence next to me, something really terrifying. I thought it would never stop

When we wake up, we come out of the paradoxical awakening, and therefore of the phase where we dream. These "hallucinations" relating to our dreams are still present during this half awakening, which can cause an uncontrollable anxiety.

For our sleep specialist, there is another explanation for this feeling: "Anxiety can generate many interpretations to justify and understand what is happening. It's so confusing to feel that way, that sometimes it feels like you are slipping into another dimension, having someone or something that is preventing you from living. These sleep paralysis are so incomprehensible to the brain, which is still very rational, that we try to hold on to something to explain it. "

How to cure sleep paralysis?

The first thing to do is to become aware of the paralysis of sleep, to learn to locate it to better apprehend it.

Then, the key to overtaking it would be finally not to fight, as Dr. Royan-Parole explains: "The more we defend ourselves against this sensation, the more we try to wake up and the less we get there. The best is to let yourself go completely, to let yourself be carried away by the relaxation. So, either you go back to sleep and it will last less, or you struggle and you risk staying in this very painful intermediate state for long minutes. "

If there is no medication available to treat sleep paralysis, consulting a specialist may be a solution to identify possible ancillary causes.

Generally, the paralysis of the sleep ends up of itself, as explains our expert: "There is no particular treatment, it is necessary to name the thing, and to say that it does not matter. You have to trust yourself and let yourself go back to sleep ".