Sleep Paralysis

Delta Primary School
Ebenezer Dongua

Sleep paralysis – some people call it spiritual attacks and some people just call it nightmares. It is something a few people experience and some people do not know of? It is a terrifying experience. Sleep paralysis is a state in which an individual seems to experience disturbing illusions. It occurs when the person who experiences it is in a state of either waking up or falling asleep. It feels as if you are mentally awake, but at the same time physically asleep.

People that have something similar to optical illusions often see monstrous creatures, people that they do not know or even people they do know. Some people have claimed to see demons or ghost – like figures that are not really there, maybe not. Alphonsina Mungungano expereienced optical illusions during sleep paralysis episodes. She saw demon like figures. She avoided having further episodes by eating earlier before sleeping. She has fewer sleep paralysis episodes now. People also experience something similar to tactile illusions.

The person experiencing a sleep paralysis episode feels as if they are being suffocated and this leads to them not being able to breathe properly in their physical state.

Elizabeth Edward experienced something similar to tactile illusion. She does not know what caused it. She was not under any pressure like depression at that time. She dealt with it by sleeping later than usual, because it often occured at around 2am. By sleeping late she would not wake up and have a sleep paralysis episode. You might probably wonder why it is called sleep paralysis. What makes it more terrifying is the fact that people cannot wake up from it, as they would when having a nightmare. People who have this experience feel paralysed.

They are unable to move, talk or scream while having a sleep paralysis episode. All they are able to do is wait for it to end.

Sleep paralysis often happens to people who have severe depression, anxiety, stress or often overthink or simply to people who feel paranoid. If you have had sleep paralysis episodes before, there are many ways of preventing it from happening again. Avoiding situations which make you feel stressed or depressed is one of these ways.

Try not to bottle up your emotions as this can lead to overthinking. Overthinking is bad for your mentality. The best way to avoid sleep paralysis episodes is to consult a psychologist. Psychologists will be able to tell you the exact causes and ways to avoid them.

Sleep paralysis is one of the reasons we often hear the saying: “never go to bed feeling upset.”