Many people experience what is known as “sleep paralysis” – waking up to immobility and the sensation of pressure on their chest; complete with horrifying images of different entities, including but not limited to: demons, hags, ghosts, aliens, disfigured creatures, etc.
But what exactly is sleep paralysis?
Some scientific data attributes this phenomena to the REM cycle that helps prevent one from acting out their dreams in their sleep.
Of course, that’s just one of the definitions. Apparently, even in the scientific community, there is disagreement on whether sleep paralysis is a naturally occurring state, or a “sleep disorder”.
“All of these symptoms describe sleep paralysis, a sleep disorder (or symptom of a sleep disorder) that temporarily alters a person’s mobility, perception, thinking, and emotional state during the transition between sleeping and waking.” –Why Sleep Paralysis Happens (and How to Prevent It)
Yet, the same author also acknowledges that everyone experiences the paralysis part during sleep: “You’re typically not aware of it, but the “paralysis” part of sleep paralysis actually happens every night when you sleep during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.“
Another study proposes stress and disturbed sleep could be the culprit: “It could be that stress causes sleep paralysis, but equally that sleep paralysis leads to stress,” Gregory said. “We couldn’t really tease apart cause and effect.” Future long-term studies will help clarify what comes first: sleep problems or anxiety, she added.” – Sleep Paralysis Is Linked to Stress (and Supernatural Beliefs) while admitting that stress could actually be the result of the sleep paralysis experiences, instead of the other way around.
And yet others state it is a completely naturally occurring phenomena that can happen to anyone and everyone depending on the sleeper’s conditions and conscious ability.
If you wake up during this experience, most people relate a terrifying account of being suffocated, can’t move, can’t speak, and a not-so benevolent presence in the room. This has been explained away as a hallucination or hypnagogic/hypnopompic imagery that accompanies these senses due to our states of vulnerability and reasoning through these emotions.