Ever felt choked, anxious, or been unable to move, speak between a state of sleep and wakefulness?

Have you ever experienced “difficulty in breathing, choking, hallucinations, hearing sounds, along with the inability to move or say anything”, especially between the stages of wakefulness and sleep? If you are nodding at that, find out what it is, and what are the causes and symptoms. “Such an episode can last from 30 seconds to 5 minutes,” said Dr Kedar Tilwe, Psychiatr, Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Fortis Mumbai.
Commonly known as sleep paralysis, it is a condition when a person cannot move their body and feel temporarily paralysed during the period between sleep and wakefulness. According to WebMD, “During these transitions, you may be unable to move or speak for a few seconds up to a few minutes.”
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Explaining, Sumithra Sridhar, a counseling psycholog, said: “Although there are no deadly effects of sleep paralysis, it does cause a lot of anxiousness and fear, which can lead to emotional exhaustion and people avoiding sleep altogether.” She added that people, generally, feel like “they are going to die and cannot ask for help from anybody at that moment — making the whole experience extremely scary.”

Causes
According to WebMD, sleep paralysis can occur either when you are falling asleep (hypnagogic), or just as you are waking up (hypnopompic). During hypnagogic sleep paralysis, the body relaxes and one becomes less aware. But, if one is awake when this happens, then one might notice the temporary inability to move or speak.
“During hypnopompic paralysis, the body alternatively moves between rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) when we sleep. During NREM, the body is most relaxed. Towards the end of the cycle, the body switches to REM (the phase where we are likely to have dreams). If you suddenly become aware before REM has finished, you find yourself paralysed,” it added.
Sleep paralysis can be emotionally challenging (Source: Unsplash)
“As such, getting stuck in that transition can be discomforting to the individual. Though it is a one-time thing, in most cases, if one experiences recurring episodes then it can be problematic and can even be an indicator of a major underlying condition such as sleep apnea, stress and anxiety, PTSD, lack of proper sleep schedule, narcolepsy, alcohol abuse,” Dr Tilwe added.

The right time to see a doctor
The experts said that although “two or three recurring episodes are enough to indicate some underlying issue and highlight the need to see an expert”, one can visit an expert even after the first occurrence.
Dr Sridhar shared some key points one should keep in mind in case of an episode of sleep paralysis
*Sleep hygiene: One must try to fall asleep and wake up at the same time every day, keep their room comfortable, keep the lighting low, avoid looking at phones before sleeping, and eating about 2-3 hours before sleeping so that the food gets properly digested.
An episode can be ’30 sec to 4 min’ long (Source: Unsplash)
*Try to practice some form of meditation.
*Visit an expert to identify and work on the factors causing you stress and anxiety.
*Do activities that make you feel relaxed and comfortable; like colouring, walking, painting, etc.
*Try taking a nap, and then don’t take a nap, just to see what works best for your body.
*Medication and antidepressants depending on intensity might help.
*Keep a sleep diary to maintain a record of the number of hours you sleep along with what helped you sleep and what did not.
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