Apparent hallucinations of a dark monster holding the sleeping person, while he or she is unable to move or speak, is a phenomenon that is experienced by one-fifth of the population at least once.
Scientists dismiss these episodes as hallucinations, but cultural beliefs pinpoint towards mythical monsters/demons, black magic and paranormal activity.

Sleep Paralysis

Health

Scientists claim a brain glitch blurs the wakefulness and Rapid Eye Movement (REM) modes of sleep, making the dreams come out in the real world, creating a hallucination.
To prevent you from acting out these dreams, the brain paralyses your body. Sometimes this mechanism fails and you see your dream in augmented reality in the real world.

The Scientific Explanation Of Sleep Paralysis

The Egyptians referred to sleep paralysis as something caused by a ‘Jinn’, which terrorizes and even kills the victims. Italians refer to this figure as Pandafeche, a giant cat.
South Africans interpret this as small creatures known as tokoloshe, who perform black magic, while in Turkey the creature has another name, the Karabasan.

Cultural Interpretations of Sleep Paralysis

The ‘brain glitch’ explanation does not do justice to what is experienced by many victims throughout history and many fearful of a ‘demon attack’ episode, as it might be deadly to them.
The fear and resulting panic create a vicious circle in the minds of the victim, feeding into the demon, and making sleep paralysis chronic and deadly. People who are under depression or have had a traumatic experience are often more vulnerable to the attack.

Fear And Sleep Paralysis

Research suggests that cultural beliefs about the phenomenon may make it more terrifying to experience<UL><LI>By <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/author/baland-jalal/" dir="ltr">Baland Jalal</a> on <time itemprop="datePublished" content="July 15, 2020" dir="ltr">July 15, 2020</time></LI></UL><figure><picture><source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/C178482A-CA76-4FCF-A758862D9AE2AA18_source.jpg?w=690&amp;h=930&amp;A970A1B7-EDF3-4EF6-8F255E8614AB6314"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcset="https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/C178482A-CA76-4FCF-A758862D9AE2AA18_source.jpg?w=390&amp;h=520&amp;A970A1B7-EDF3-4EF6-8F255E8614AB6314"><img src="https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/C178482A-CA76-4FCF-A758862D9AE2AA18_source.jpg?w=590&amp;h=800&amp;A970A1B7-EDF3-4EF6-8F255E8614AB6314" alt="Sleep Paralysis and the Monsters Inside Your Mind" width="690" height="491"></picture><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class="t_caption" dir="ltr"> Credit: <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/nightmare-royalty-free-image/157481724?adppopup=true" dir="ltr">Getty Images</a></figcaption></figure>Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to an unearthly figure with blood dripping down its fangs. You try to scream, but you can’t. You can’t move a single muscle! If this sounds familiar, you’ve probably experienced an episode of sleep paralysis, which involves the inability to move or speak upon falling asleep or awakening and is often coupled with hallucinations. About one in five people have had sleep paralysis at least once. But despite its prevalence, it has largely remained a mystery. For centuries, cultures across the world have attributed these hallucinations to black magic, mythical monsters, even paranormal activity. Scientists have since dismissed such explanations, yet these cultural beliefs persist. In fact, my and my colleagues’ research, conducted over roughly a decade in six different countries, suggests that beliefs about sleep paralysis can dramatically shape the physical and psychological experience, revealing a striking type of mind-body interaction.Sleep paralysis is caused by what appears to be a basic brain glitch at the interface between wakefulness and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. During REM, you have intensely lifelike dreams. To prevent you from acting out these realistic dreams (and hurting yourself!), your brain has a clever solution: it temporarily paralyzes your entire body. Indeed, your brain has a “switch” (a handful of neurochemicals) that tilts you between sleep and wakefulness. Sometimes the “switch” fails, however—your brain inadvertently wakes up while your body is still under the “spell” of REM paralysis, leaving you stuck in a paradoxical state between parallel realities: wakefulness and REM sleep. During sleep paralysis, the crisp dreams of REM “spill over” into waking consciousness like a dream coming alive before your eyes—fanged figures and all.These hallucinations—often involving seeing and sensing ghostly bedroom intruders—are interpreted differently around the world. In Egypt, sleep paralysis is often thought to be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1363461513503378" dir="ltr">caused by a jinn (“genie”)</a>—a supernatural creature that terrorizes and sometimes kills its victims. In Italy, some interpret sleep paralysis <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11013-015-9442-y" dir="ltr">as an assault by the so-called Pandafeche, a figure described as a malevolent witch or terrifying giant cat</a>. In South Africa, Indigenous people believe the state to be caused by <a href="https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S1077722917300755" dir="ltr">segatelelo (black magic), involving menacing dwarflike creatures called tokoloshe</a>, and in Turkey, it is the <a href="https://journals-sagepub-com.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1177/1363461520909616" dir="ltr">karabasan</a>—mysterious spirit-like creatures. In contrast, the Danes offer a less imaginative explanation: they largely attribute sleep paralysis to physiological risk factors such as stress.<figcaption>Advertisement</figcaption>These explanations—scientific and sensationalist—can have a profound impact on how people experience sleep paralysis. When directly comparing the phenomenon in Egypt and Denmark, we found that Egyptians fear it much more than Danes do. In fact, more than 50 percent of Egyptians who experienced the condition were convinced <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11013-013-9327-x" dir="ltr">that sleep paralysis was deadly</a>. Egyptians also believed that the episodes lasted longer—and remarkably, they occurred three times more often for this group. Beliefs about sleep paralysis among Egyptians appeared to have dramatically shaped their experience. Those who attributed it to supernatural forces suffered greater fear of the experience and longer paralysis. A pattern was revealing itself. Paired with particular beliefs, sleep paralysis had gone from a simple “brain glitch” to a chronic, prolonged and potentially fatal supernatural event.The question was whether the results could be replicated. Italians also have striking cultural beliefs about the origin of sleep paralysis. More than a third of those from the Abruzzo region thought their sleep paralysis might be caused by the Pandafeche creature. Like Egyptians, Italians also experienced sleep paralysis <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1363461520909609" dir="ltr">more frequently</a>, with prolonged paralysis and excessive fear of the experience. In both groups, beliefs about the disorder heightened symptoms in a bizarre mind-body interaction with “nocebolike” effects. An active imagination had the astonishing ability to shape physiological experiences.Based on these findings, it appears that the more people fear sleep paralysis, the more they experience it, and the stronger its effects are. What were once thought to be benign, even inventive, beliefs have transformed the disorder, triggering conditioned fear and coloring the content of hallucinations. Anxiety and stress predispose people to an attack, so those who dread it are often more likely to experience it. Indeed, sleep paralysis is nearly twice as common in Egypt, compared with Denmark. And as discovered in Italy, those who believe their sleep paralysis may have a supernatural cause are also <a href="http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/PsyPag-110-WEB.pdf#page=10" dir="ltr">more likely to hallucinate during the attack</a>—including experiencing a ghostly “sensed presence.” Once sleep paralysis occurs, it is subsequently interpreted through the lens of fear, leading to more anxiety and unwanted awakenings—and effectively, more sleep paralysis. This vicious cycle—which I <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4731518/" dir="ltr">call the “panic-hallucination model”</a>—continues to feed into itself until sleep paralysis becomes chronic, prolonged and, worse yet, potentially psychopathological.Our new findings raise the intriguing possibility that sleep paralysis, if accompanied by certain beliefs, is not just frightening but may also be potentially traumatizing. The effects can linger long after an episode ends. Notably, in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26488914/" dir="ltr">one study in Egypt</a>, we found that people who have experienced the phenomenon have elevated trauma and anxiety symptoms, relative to those who have never experienced it. Those with visual hallucinations—seeing “demonic beings,” say—are even more at risk. In another study in Abruzzo, I and my colleagues recently showed that fear during sleep paralysis, and fear of dying from the attack, was linked to trauma and depression symptoms. These findings indicate that when it is understood through a particular cultural filter, the disorder can cause psychopathology.For those suffering from sleep paralysis, sleep is not an escape from reality. Indeed, for some, “sleeping” can potentially lead to a mental disorder. The human mind is vastly more mysterious, and occasionally malevolent, than one would have thought.<figcaption>Advertisement</figcaption>

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Research suggests that cultural beliefs about the phenomenon may make it more terrifying to experience <ul><li>By <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/author/baland-jalal/">Baland Jalal </a> on <time content="July 15, 2020" dir="ltr" itemprop="datePublished">July 15, 2020 </time> </li> </ul>Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to an unearthly figure with blood dripping down its fangs. You try to scream, but you can’t. You can’t move a single muscle! If this sounds familiar, you’ve probably experienced an episode of sleep paralysis, which involves the inability to move or speak upon falling asleep or awakening and is often coupled with hallucinations. About one in five people have had sleep paralysis at least once. But despite its prevalence, it has largely remained a mystery. For centuries, cultures across the world have attributed these hallucinations to black magic, mythical monsters, even paranormal activity. Scientists have since dismissed such explanations, yet these cultural beliefs persist. In fact, my and my colleagues’ research, conducted over roughly a decade in six different countries, suggests that beliefs about sleep paralysis can dramatically shape the physical and psychological experience, revealing a striking type of mind-body interaction.

Sleep paralysis is caused by what appears to be a basic brain glitch at the interface between wakefulness and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. During REM, you have intensely lifelike dreams. To prevent you from acting out these realistic dreams (and hurting yourself!), your brain has a clever solution: it temporarily paralyzes your entire body. Indeed, your brain has a “switch” (a handful of neurochemicals) that tilts you between sleep and wakefulness. Sometimes the “switch” fails, however—your brain inadvertently wakes up while your body is still under the “spell” of REM paralysis, leaving you stuck in a paradoxical state between parallel realities: wakefulness and REM sleep. During sleep paralysis, the crisp dreams of REM “spill over” into waking consciousness like a dream coming alive before your eyes—fanged figures and all.

These hallucinations—often involving seeing and sensing ghostly bedroom intruders—are interpreted differently around the world. In Egypt, sleep paralysis is often thought to be <a dir="ltr" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1363461513503378">caused by a jinn (“genie”) </a>—a supernatural creature that terrorizes and sometimes kills its victims. In Italy, some interpret sleep paralysis <a dir="ltr" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11013-015-9442-y">as an assault by the so-called Pandafeche, a figure described as a malevolent witch or terrifying giant cat </a>. In South Africa, Indigenous people believe the state to be caused by <a dir="ltr" href="https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S1077722917300755">segatelelo (black magic), involving menacing dwarflike creatures called tokoloshe </a>, and in Turkey, it is the <a dir="ltr" href="https://journals-sagepub-com.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1177/1363461520909616">karabasan </a>—mysterious spirit-like creatures. In contrast, the Danes offer a less imaginative explanation: they largely attribute sleep paralysis to physiological risk factors such as stress.

These explanations—scientific and sensationalist—can have a profound impact on how people experience sleep paralysis. When directly comparing the phenomenon in Egypt and Denmark, we found that Egyptians fear it much more than Danes do. In fact, more than 50 percent of Egyptians who experienced the condition were convinced <a dir="ltr" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11013-013-9327-x">that sleep paralysis was deadly </a>. Egyptians also believed that the episodes lasted longer—and remarkably, they occurred three times more often for this group. Beliefs about sleep paralysis among Egyptians appeared to have dramatically shaped their experience. Those who attributed it to supernatural forces suffered greater fear of the experience and longer paralysis. A pattern was revealing itself. Paired with particular beliefs, sleep paralysis had gone from a simple “brain glitch” to a chronic, prolonged and potentially fatal supernatural event.

The question was whether the results could be replicated. Italians also have striking cultural beliefs about the origin of sleep paralysis. More than a third of those from the Abruzzo region thought their sleep paralysis might be caused by the Pandafeche creature. Like Egyptians, Italians also experienced sleep paralysis <a dir="ltr" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1363461520909609">more frequently </a>, with prolonged paralysis and excessive fear of the experience. In both groups, beliefs about the disorder heightened symptoms in a bizarre mind-body interaction with “nocebolike” effects. An active imagination had the astonishing ability to shape physiological experiences.

Based on these findings, it appears that the more people fear sleep paralysis, the more they experience it, and the stronger its effects are. What were once thought to be benign, even inventive, beliefs have transformed the disorder, triggering conditioned fear and coloring the content of hallucinations. Anxiety and stress predispose people to an attack, so those who dread it are often more likely to experience it. Indeed, sleep paralysis is nearly twice as common in Egypt, compared with Denmark. And as discovered in Italy, those who believe their sleep paralysis may have a supernatural cause are also <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.psypag.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/PsyPag-110-WEB.pdf#page=10">more likely to hallucinate during the attack </a>—including experiencing a ghostly “sensed presence.” Once sleep paralysis occurs, it is subsequently interpreted through the lens of fear, leading to more anxiety and unwanted awakenings—and effectively, more sleep paralysis. This vicious cycle—which I <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4731518/">call the “panic-hallucination model” </a>—continues to feed into itself until sleep paralysis becomes chronic, prolonged and, worse yet, potentially psychopathological.

Our new findings raise the intriguing possibility that sleep paralysis, if accompanied by certain beliefs, is not just frightening but may also be potentially traumatizing. The effects can linger long after an episode ends. Notably, in <a dir="ltr" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26488914/">one study in Egypt </a>, we found that people who have experienced the phenomenon have elevated trauma and anxiety symptoms, relative to those who have never experienced it. Those with visual hallucinations—seeing “demonic beings,” say—are even more at risk. In another study in Abruzzo, I and my colleagues recently showed that fear during sleep paralysis, and fear of dying from the attack, was linked to trauma and depression symptoms. These findings indicate that when it is understood through a particular cultural filter, the disorder can cause psychopathology.

Bite-sized knowledge
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Sleep Paralysis and the Monsters Inside Your Mind

Sleep Paralysis

The Scientific Explanation Of Sleep Paralysis

Cultural Interpretations of Sleep Paralysis

Fear And Sleep Paralysis

IDEAS ABOUT

MORE LIKE THIS

Sleep paralysis: a terrifying encounter with our own mind

What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about the Brain

Why Rocking to Sleep Is a Matchless Sedative—and Elixir

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Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Sleep Paralysis and the Monsters Inside Your Mind

Sleep Paralysis

The Scientific Explanation Of Sleep Paralysis

Cultural Interpretations of Sleep Paralysis

Fear And Sleep Paralysis

IDEAS ABOUT

MORE LIKE THIS

Sleep paralysis: a terrifying encounter with our own mind

What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about the Brain

Why Rocking to Sleep Is a Matchless Sedative&mdash;and Elixir

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Why Rocking to Sleep Is a Matchless Sedative—and Elixir