Researchers from different countries have been studying the effects of stress and psychological disorders on sleep paralysis (SP) for some time. Recently, scientists from Ireland – Costello, Dennigan, and Egan – decided to analyze the prevalence of SP and its possible causes among students. As the authors add, students are one of the groups most prone to SP.
The results of the survey showed that 99% of participants were familiar with this phenomenon, and 56% of respondents experienced SP regularly. The researchers consider this indicator to be quite high and associate it with the coronavirus pandemic (and the general stress resulting from it).
Sleep paralysis is one of the phase states, a term that also designates lucid dreams, out-of-body experiences, etc. It occurs when one is falling asleep or waking up and is characterized by the inability to move or speak while awake. This is often accompanied by frightening hallucinations.
Statistics collected by the researchers suggest that these hallucinations might be linked to so-called “catastrophic thinking.” A person with this kind of mindset perceives all sensations and external events as more dangerous than they really are. This tendency is one of the reasons for the (usually terrifying) visions that accompany the SP experience.
On the other hand, people with an analytical mindset are less likely to experience intuitive fear and panic attacks. As a result, the stress from an episode of sleep paralysis is much less pronounced in such individuals.
What type of mindset do you have? How does it influence your experience of sleep paralysis?
The article was published in November 2021 in the journal Clinical Psychology Today.
