While many diseases will put someone through pain and suffering, sleep paralysis only attacks the patient when he or she is sleeping.
It’s a
that occurs when one is aware or conscious but unable to move during sleep.
Psychologists describe it as a stage between being awake and asleep. It happens when one’s mind is awake while their bodies are asleep.
Most people who experience sleep paralysis see or hear things that do not really exist.
Victims struggle to move but are faced with resistance which they cannot explain the source.
Scientists believe that this condition is caused by an interrupted rapid eye movement cycle when the brain paralyses muscles making them not move according to the dreams.
In rare cases, the patient might helplessly watch weird human-like creatures trample on their chests. These 'demons' sometimes might strangle the victim while in sleep.
There has been a debate on whether sleep paralysis kills with a section of scientists claiming that it doesn’t kill at all.
Fuseli’s nightmare in 1971 has been described as sleep paralysis. It was characterised by demons that crawl on one’s chest. In ancient England, the demon was known as Mara and had killed a lot of people in sleep.