The terrors of sleep paralysis - Ami Angelowicz

965,227 views ・ 2013-07-25

TED-Ed


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:06
Imagine this:
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You're fast asleep
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when all of a sudden you're awoken!
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And not by your alarm clock.
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Your eyes open,
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and there's a demon sitting on your chest,
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pinning you down.
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You try to open your mouth and scream,
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but no sound comes out.
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You try to get up and run away,
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but you realize that you are completely immobilized.
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The demon is trying to suffocate you,
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but you can't fight back.
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You've awoken into your dream,
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and it's a nightmare.
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It sounds like a Stephen King movie,
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but it's actually a medical condition
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called sleep paralysis,
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and about half of the population
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has experienced this strange phenomenon
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at least once in their life.
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This panic-inducing episode
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of coming face-to-face with the creatures
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from your nightmares
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can last anywhere from seconds to minutes
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and may involve visual or auditory hallucinations
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of an evil spirit
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or an out-of-body feeling like you're floating.
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Some have even mistaken sleep paralysis
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for an encounter with a ghost
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or an alien abduction.
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In 1867, Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell
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was the first medical professional
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to study sleep paralysis.
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"The subject awakes to consciousness
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of his environment
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but is incapable of moving a muscle.
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Lying to all appearance, still asleep.
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He's really engaged for a struggle for movement,
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fraught with acute mental distress.
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Could he but manage to stir,
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the spell would vanish instantly."
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Even though Dr. Mitchell was the first
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to observe patients in a state of sleep paralysis,
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it's so common that nearly every culture
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throughout time has had some kind
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of paranormal explanation for it.
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In medieval Europe, you might think that an incubus,
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a sex-hungry demon in male form,
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visited you in the night.
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In Scandinavia, the mare,
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a damned woman,
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is responsible for visiting sleepers
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and sitting on their rib cages.
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In Turkey, a jinn holds you down
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and tries to strangle you.
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In Thailand, Phi Am bruises you while you sleep.
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In the southern United States,
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the hag comes for you.
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In Mexico, you could blame
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subirse el muerto, the dead person, on you.
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In Greece, Mora sits upon your chest
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and tries to asphyxiate you.
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In Nepal, Khyaak the ghost
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resides under the staircase.
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It may be easier to blame
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sleep paralysis on evil spirits
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because what's actually happening in your brain
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is much harder to explain.
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Modern scientists believe that sleep paralysis
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is caused by an abnormal overlap
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of the REM, rapid eye movement,
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and waking stages of sleep.
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During a normal REM cycle,
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you're experiencing a number of sensory stimuli
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in the form of a dream,
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and your brain is unconscious and fully asleep.
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During your dream,
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special neurotransmitters are released,
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which paralyze almost all of your muscles.
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That's called REM atonia.
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It's what keeps you from running in your bed
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when you're being chased in your dreams.
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During an episode of sleep paralysis,
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you're experiencing normal components of REM.
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You're dreaming and your muscles are paralyzed,
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only your brain is conscious and wide awake.
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This is what causes you to imagine
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that you're having an encounter
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with a menacing presence.
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So this explains the hallucinations,
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but what about the feelings of panic,
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strangling,
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choking,
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chest pressure
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that so many people describe?
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Well during REM,
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the function that keeps you
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from acting out your dreams,
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REM atonia,
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also removes voluntary control
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of your breathing.
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Your breath becomes more shallow
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and rapid.
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You take in more carbon dioxide
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and experience a small blockage of your airway.
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During a sleep paralysis episode,
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a combination of your body's fear response
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to a perceived attack by an evil creature
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and your brain being wide awake
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while your body is in an REM sleep state
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triggers a response for you to take in more oxygen.
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That makes you gasp
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for air,
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but you can't
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because REM atonia
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has removed control of your breath.
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This struggle for air while your body sleeps
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creates a perceived sensation
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of pressure on the chest
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or suffocation.
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While a few people experience
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sleep paralysis regularly
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and it may be linked to sleep disorders
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such as narcolepsy,
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many who experience an episode of sleep paralysis
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do so infrequently,
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perhaps only once in a lifetime.
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So you can rest easy,
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knowing that an evil entity is not trying
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to haunt,
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possess,
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strangle,
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or suffocate you.
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Save that for the horror films!
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