A nightmare in which a cat, a witch or some other creature sits on the chest, while suffocation is felt - a fairly common phenomenon.
The person is completely immobilized and can not say a word. Very often you can hear human steps, creaking doors. Search for an explanation for clairvoyants is not worth it: the reason for everything - sleepy paralysis, which turns night into a nightmare.
Sleep paralysis is a phenomenon that occurs after a person falls asleep or immediately after awakening. The cause of all muscle paralysis, which occurred before falling asleep or did not release after awakening.
Often this phenomenon is characterized by a strong muscular weakness accompanied by hallucinations that are conventionally divided into several categories( auditory, visual, tactile):
Intruder in ancient mythology looked exactly like this
- Intruder - characterized by a state of sensation of presence in the room of a person,aliens, shuffling legs, opening doors, etc.
- The evil spirit( incubus) - there is a constant understanding of the approaching death. There is a feeling that the chest is crushed by some creature, breathing is difficult, there may be a feeling of sexual violence.
- Vestibular motor - the characteristic features are dizziness, flying, falling, swimming, there may be a feeling that the person's soul has flown from the body and hovers above it.
The state of carotid paralysis does not threaten human health, but affects its state of the nervous system.
Contents
- Do not panic, everything is OK
- Interesting facts
- Frightening facts
- Provoking states
- The old witch in your bed
- When you need to sound an alarm?
- In order to prevent
- How to quickly get rid of paralysis after its onset
Do not panic, everything is OK
In order to understand what is a sleep paralysis syndrome, you need to know that sleep consists of alternating phases: fast and slow sleep. During the onset of a fast sleep, the body paralyzes the natural paralysis, which "releases" during a phase of slow sleep or after awakening.
Thus, if in the fast sleep phase the brain woke up earlier than "released" paralysis, one can observe an unpleasant, frightening phenomenon called sleep paralysis.
Therefore, the most common manifestations occur during the awakening period, but there is still a variant of its manifestation in the process of falling asleep: if the brain has not had time to switch off before the moment of natural paralysis. Thus, a frightening phenomenon is nothing more than a violation of the course of sleep, which does not cause any health problems.
Interesting Facts
Sleep paralysis under various names has been known since ancient times, described in various kinds of literature and even captured in the canvases of artists. In different cultures, the attitude towards it was different, as well as the names:
- Kanashibari - the phenomenon is called in Japan;
- the dead body that climbed on me - so literally the state in Mexico;
- the old witch - the so-called sleepy paralysis in Newfoundland.
Henry Fuseri, author of the series "Nightmare" depicts a woman sleeping on her back, on whose chest a demon is sitting. The canvas is written in the 18th century and vividly reflects all the details of the "old witch" - you can not say more precisely.
Frightening facts
In the state of paralysis, an individual often feels closed in a dead, immobilized body. The very state of horror does not allow the brain to quickly cope with the surging nightmare. And although this state does not last long - a maximum of a couple of minutes, a person who finds himself in this position, time seems endless.
The first case of manifestation of this phenomenon was described in the 10th century AD in medical works of Persia. As for the real first case, which was observed by a professional physician - this took place in 1664 in the Netherlands, but in this case the doctor managed to convince the patient that it was only a nightmare.
Such manifestations as choking, sensation by a number of extraneous people or evil spirits have always tried to connect with the manifestation of paranormal phenomena. In fact, there is no mystic or religious background here: the whole cause of paralysis is in a dream.
Provoking conditions of
Very often, carotid paralysis is a consequence of some neurological disorders, the most common causes: 
- narcolepsy ( a disease characterized by a constant, especially daytime, drowsiness that there is no strength to resist);
- somnambulism ( walking in a dream);
- manic-depressive psychosis ;
- most frequent is this manifestation as a result of imbalance of the nervous system ( non-compliance with sleep and wakefulness, stress, insomnia, sleeping on the back, taking antidepressants, tranquilizers, some addictions( alcoholic, nicotinic), hereditary predisposition).
An old witch in your bed
Sleep paralysis or old witch syndrome characterized by the following symptoms:
- inability to move for a while: maximum to two minutes( during sleep or waking);
- preservation of eye movement;
- lack of ability to speak;
- auditory, visual hallucinations, a real sense of presence in the room of people or mystical beings, a sense of touch, squeezing;
- sensation of moving the bed, squeezing the chest;
- suffocation;
- feeling of imminent death;
- in some cases, a person can view the faces of people who are allegedly present in the room;
- sweating;
- of migraine;
- paranoia;
- muscle pain.
When should I alarm?
In itself, the phenomenon of carotid paralysis is not a danger, so treatment is not prescribed.
But there are special cases in which the "old witch" is nothing but a symptom of other diseases, such as somnambulism, narcolepsy, and other disorders of the nervous system.
If the "witch" in a person manifested once and did not repeat, only preventive measures are needed to eliminate the causes of the phenomenon.
If the paralysis is a consequence of complex diseases, a survey and quality treatment will be required, which, basically, consists in taking antidepressants.
For the prevention of
If sleeping palsy is temporary, take preventive measures:
- , set a sleep mode: you must go up and go to bed at the same time and the duration should not be less than six to eight hours;
- in the sleeping room must necessarily be ventilated, dark enough and quiet;
- for 60 minutes before bed it is worth not to watch TV;
- for a night toilet choose not bright lighting, but night lamps, floor lamps;
- do not overeat before going to bed: the last meal should be two hours before bedtime;
- before going to bed listen to classical music, read good literature( of course, excluding horrors);
- do not sleep with the light on, TV;
- refuse to sleep during the day, especially in the period after 15.00, the maximum duration of daytime sleep should be one and a half hours.
There are also auxiliary actions for improving sleep, its correction:
- not to nap between 8.00 and 10.00 in the morning;
- engage in regular meditation and praying;
- if you woke up in the middle of the night or early in the morning, do not force yourself to fall asleep again, it is better to do it when the body requires;
- do not get carried away with taking stimulants.
How to quickly get rid of paralysis after its onset
If it so happened that you were pinned down by the "old witch" and there are all the terrible manifestations of this problem, try to count the mind in 
, you can recall any poem or prayer, thereby awakening the brain.
If this does not help, try moving with your fingers, tongue, rotate your eyes. So you will provoke a final awakening.
Thus, compliance with the regime of the day is an excellent prophylaxis against paralysis in a dream, which, in principle, does not cause any harm to health, but causes frank horror at its onset.
