is this normal?? does it happen to everyone?

Question

sometimes while im sleeping, iopen my eyes and i feel like standing up, but i cant even move..i cant open my eyes for too long, and i feel like im talking but im just talking in my mind....is it normal?

Answer 1

Sleep paralysis usually occurs during REM sleep. In REM,( rapid eyemovements) the brain is active and the body inactive, and this is when most dreaming occurs. REM sleep is characterized by an electroencephalography (EEG) that has low voltage and mixed frequency, similar in appearance to the awake EEG. During REM sleep there is loss of skeletal muscle tone, and an active sympathetic nervous system.

In NREM sleep, the body is active and the brain inactive, and there is relatively little dreaming. Non-REM encompasses four stages; stages 1 and 2 are considered 'light sleep', and 3 and 4 'deep sleep'. They are differentiated solely using EEG, unlike REM sleep which is characterized by rapid eye movements and relative absence of muscle tone. There are often limb movements, and parasomnia sleep walking occurs in non-REM sleep. A cyclical alternating pattern may sometimes be observed during a stage.


Some reports read that various factors increase the likelihood of both paralysis and hallucinations. These include:

Sleeping in a supine position (facing upwards)
Irregular sleeping schedules; naps, sleeping in, sleep deprivation
Increased stress
Sudden environmental/lifestyle changes
A lucid dream that immediately precedes the episode. Also conscious induction of sleep paralysis is a common technique to enter a state of lucid dreams, also known as WILD[1] .
Artificial sleeping aids, ADD medications and/or antihistamines
Recent use of hallucinogenic drugs

Answer 2

It happened to me a few times a while back ago and the same night's it happened to me it happened to my mother, actually. I'm not sure why, it could have been anything from something we've been eating or because we were both really stressed at the time. Even though I'm not really a believer of this sort of thing, to me it really felt like something super natural, and it did stop once we moved to the house we live in now, so..... yeah....