The feeling of being conscious but unable to move or speak, and the sudden sensation of something holding or choking you back, is commonly known as Sleep Paralysis. This happens when a person passes between stages of wakefulness and sleep. What happens when you sleep that leads to Hypnopompic Sleep Paralysis? Your brain actually shuts down voluntary use of your muscles during sleep to keep you from acting out your dreams, points out Buzzfeed.com. However, with sleep paralysis, this mechanism remains engaged despite the fact that your conscious brain is "on". During sleep, your body alternates between REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. During NREM sleep, your body relaxes and restores itself. At the end of NREM, your sleep shifts to REM. Your eyes move quickly and dreams occur, but the rest of your body remains very relaxed. Your muscles are "turned off" during REM sleep. If you become aware before the REM cycle has finished, you may notice that you can not move or speak. This anomalous phenomenon is classified as a benign condition that may run in the blood of families, causing the sufferer to have weird dreams, night terrors, see hallucinations and become afraid. It's like being trapped in your own body; your mind is aware but your physical self seems disconnected. The reasons behind this mysterious sleep-time paralysis are lack of sleep, mental conditions such as stress or bipolar disorder, sleeping on the back, other sleep problems such as narcolepsy or nighttime leg cramps, use of certain medications, such as those for ADHD, and substance abuse. Nevertheless, sleep paralysis can be diagnosed and treated. LiveScience.com explains that improving sleep habits through regular sleep is important to keep episodes of sleep paralysis at bay. Another way to help achieve this is by limiting your caffeine intake; try to avoid having that extra cup of coffee, and substances that include alcohol and nicotine, and take antidepressant medication if it is prescribed to help regulate sleep cycles. If you’ve followed these guidelines and are still having episodes, it may be time to see a doctor, adds the source.
