Since ancient times, many superstitions have been associated with sleep, and how many interpretations there are for the same episode is unthinkable, you are tortured to choose the right one. Especially when they contradict each other. Not spared the attachment to mysticism and the awakening itself, or rather, such a rather rare condition as sleep paralysis.
It is characterized, in simple terms, by the fact that the brain has woken up, but the muscles of the body are not yet there, which is why one cannot even move, but the environment is already beginning to be perceived. Sometimes it happens the other way around, in the process of falling asleep, when the body has "turned off", and the brain is still trying to think about something.
Paralysis is characterized by a feeling of horror, the manifestation of visual and auditory hallucinations, a feeling of pressure and suffocation. Fear occurs in 90%, other symptoms are somewhat less common. Hallucinations are present in every fourth person. This state does not last very long - from a few seconds to two or three minutes. But even this time is enough to get scared and feel completely helpless. And, given that the brain has barely awakened, has not yet departed from the world of dreams and is just starting to realize itself in reality - the appearance of various terrible pictures before the eyes is absolutely understandable.
It is not surprising that a mass of mystical interpretations and folk myths arose to explain this phenomenon. But all of them are united by one thing - to the awakened and motionless person there is a certain mythical creature, which is most often taken for strangling the unfortunate. In Russia, it was believed that a brownie comes to the sleeping man, who jumps on his chest and, again, begins to either strangle, showing his displeasure, or can hug him, expressing his location. If you manage to say or at least think about the question “for better or for better?”, You can get an answer about the future. Some owners of pets, by the way, do not always even realize that they were temporarily paralyzed, and the resulting feeling of pressure and breathing difficulties are explained by the fact that the cat decided to walk or take a nap on the beloved owner. The more terrible it becomes for themwhen they remember that the door to the room is locked or suddenly they see a peacefully sleeping cat in an armchair, when someone is still stomping on them.
From the point of view of esotericists and religion, the situation looks in modern times in two ways. They recognize the existence of sleep paralysis and even use this term, but they mean by it the untimely return of the soul from the other world. Unless their attitude to the journey itself is different - esotericists are happy to teach the separation of the soul from the body, while the church, on the contrary, considers it a sinful, albeit not consciously perfect, work, salvation from which is prayer. To some extent, this is useful advice, because as long as you understand your condition, as long as you remember and read a suitable prayer, immobilization will have time to pass.
From the scientific point of view, the factors for the onset of sleep paralysis are circumstances that are difficult to avoid in the urban rhythm of life - stress, irregular sleep, a feeling of constant anxiety and even an improper diet. Alcohol, drugs, and certain medications can also contribute.
A little more statistics - susceptible to seizures, according to research, an average of 7.5% of people aged 12 to 25 years, less often - up to 30 years. Outside of this period, sleep paralysis in the vast majority of cases occurs in patients with narcolepsy, in almost every second.
