Did you ever awaken and find yourself unable to move? Perhaps you sensed a presence in your room or a pressure on your chest. This is sleep paralysis. It is a common disorder that affects millions of people. Most believe it occurs as we are on the edge of REM sleep. The disorder has been connected with such hallucinogenic events such as alien abduction or an evil presence. Sleep paralysis is an inability to move or speak, occasionally accompanied by hallucinations, for up to several minutes upon awakening or just before falling asleep. The symptoms of sleep paralysis are often associated with REM sleep. This is because during REM sleep, except for the diaphragm, we are more or less paralyzed from the neck down as we dream (Regestein 30). It is when we enter this dream world or exit we can become a victim of sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis at the onset of nap was well described by a patient of Edward Binns, a physician writing in the 1850s, about what he termed day-mares (Mendelson 223):During the intensely hot summer of 1825, I experienced an attack of this affliction. Immediately after dining, I threw myself on my back upon a sofa, and, before I was aware was seized with difficult respiration, extreme dread, and the utter incapability of motion or speech. I could neither move nor cry, while the breath came from my chest in broken and suffocating paroxysms. During all this time I was perfectly awake; I saw the light glaring in the windows in broad sultry streams; I felt the intense heat of the day pervading my frame; and heard distinctly the different noises in the street, and even the ticking of my own watch, which I had placed on the cushion beside me; I had at the same time, the consciousness of flies buzzing around and settling with annoying pertinacity on my face. During the whole fit, judgment was never for a moment suspended. I felt assured that I labored under incubus. I even endeavored to reason myself out of the feeling of ...
