Recently, on vacation with my family after a very busy period, I woke up one morning after a good 10 hours of sleep. And there, when I could have stretched smiling while listening to the birds sing, it turned into a nightmare:unable to open my eyes. Unable to move. I try to scream. No sound comes out. I try to move my fingers, resting against my boyfriend's thigh, to wake him up. Impossible. I try to scream louder. I force. I force. I force. Nothing. I'm starting to tell myself that I'll never be able to wake up. That I will stay in this hellish state forever. It's horrible. And after a moment of anguish that seems like an eternity to me, I manage to moan (or growl, I don't really know), my worried boyfriend wakes me up and there, I jump to the ceiling before bursting into tears in big baby mode. "I went au-che-maaaaaaar!" »
"But, was it actually sleep paralysis?" “A friend tells me when I tell her this, adding that she herself experienced it once, like several other friends of hers. "The paralysis of what?" »
First discovery, "sleep paralysis", which occurs when falling asleep (hypnagogic state) or waking up (hypnopompic state), is a relatively common sleep disorder since "20% of the population would have experienced it, especially during adolescence,” informs the Center for Information, Research and Consultation on Exceptional Experiences (CIRCEE).
And indeed, when I talk about it around me, I hear a lot of people answer me, with the head of Sherlock Holmes:“So that was it…. .
If this state seems to last for an eternity, it actually lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes. There, caught between dreaming and waking, you find yourself unable to move or speak. This paralysis is even often associated with a feeling of disturbing presence and hallucinations.
“Two-thirds of the time, people just experience the sensation of a presence or entity. This presence is most of the time "felt", the subject having the impression that it is out of the field of vision, standing in the room or sitting on the bed. Sometimes this presence seems disturbing, inquisitive or malevolent. More rarely, she can be aggressive, and sit on the sleeper's chest to try to suffocate or strangle him", continues CIRCEE. Brrr!
But what is it due to? It's very simple:when we dream, a neurotransmitter, glycine, paralyzes us to prevent us from moving too much and "living" our dreams to the fullest, for example by doing the bamboola in our pajamas in the street. Except that there, these hormones which normally dissipate during the waking phase, still remain active and continue to annihilate the motor functions of the body when you are awake.
So we freak out. Our brain, which is still in the west, in an intermediate state of consciousness between dreaming and waking, tries to understand what is going on and, stubborn as a mule, even creates things that could explain our paralysis. , like the impression that we have too heavy eyelids, that we are stuck in a dream in Inception mode, that a weight is placed on our belly or that a monster is there, holding us in the trap. THANK YOU BRAIN, WE WILL REMEMBER!
So you've understood it, maybe even experienced it:sleep paralysis is not a very fun moment... The first thing to do to avoid it is to understand when these hormonal "bugs" and to brain can occur. According to CIRCEE, the causes usually associated with sleep paralysis are "fatigue, stress, anxiety, a sudden change in daily habits (moving house, change of job) or poor sleep hygiene (irregular sleep schedules )". So more than ever, we strive to have a slightly more regular rhythm of life and to take breaks to "evacuate". For that, we advise you to read the excellent book of self-coaching in 21 days:"I stop exhausting myself".
The solution to not worry if it happens to you one day? When you panic, concentrate and tell yourself that you are having sleep paralysis. That way you are reassured, the brain has its info, calms down and TADAM! You are awake. Too strong!
