The Effects of Sleeping Position on Sufferers of Sleep Paralysis
Sleep paralysis is a brief, conscious state of involuntary immobility occurring when falling asleep or upon awakening characterized by muscle atonia and vivid, reoccurring, terrifying hallucinations. Complete muscle atonia is naturally induced during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep to prevent the sleeper from physically acting out dreams (Lapierre & Montplaisir, 1992), The absence of REM atonia causes rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, characterized by the sleeper unconsciously acting out their dreams (Gugger & Wagner, 2007). Sleep paralysis takes place in the transitional state between sleep and wakefulness, whereupon the sleeper becomes conscious and aware of their surroundings …show more content…
Survey. Participants will be selected through a brief survey that will allow respondents to indicate whether or not characteristics of sleep paralysis apply to them, e.g., “When falling asleep or waking up, do you regularly experience an inability to move for a brief period?” Respondents will also indicate during the survey which sleeping position they most commonly experience sleep paralysis in. The survey will be as concise and clear as possible for the intents of the study, and will not gather information on any other factors aside from whether or not the respondent believes they regularly experience sleep …show more content…
As the exact causes of the state are finally starting to become identified, more and more research has come out on the phenomenon. Only a small amount of this research factors in sleeping position, and the majority of these rarely experiment beyond supporting the findings of the supine position as the most common in most cases of sleep paralysis. An experimental study on the rate and severity of occurrences of sleep paralysis with the variable of sleeping position will hopefully allow for a better understanding of how sleeping position factors into the phenomenon and how such an occurrence can be prevented. Future studies may address the inherent weaknesses of this study, particularly the lack of control in field testing, and may experiment with other external factors and sample characteristics, such as mental disorder or
Sleep paralysis is a brief, conscious state of involuntary immobility occurring when falling asleep or upon awakening characterized by muscle atonia and vivid, reoccurring, terrifying hallucinations. Complete muscle atonia is naturally induced during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep to prevent the sleeper from physically acting out dreams (Lapierre & Montplaisir, 1992), The absence of REM atonia causes rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, characterized by the sleeper unconsciously acting out their dreams (Gugger & Wagner, 2007). Sleep paralysis takes place in the transitional state between sleep and wakefulness, whereupon the sleeper becomes conscious and aware of their surroundings …show more content…
Survey. Participants will be selected through a brief survey that will allow respondents to indicate whether or not characteristics of sleep paralysis apply to them, e.g., “When falling asleep or waking up, do you regularly experience an inability to move for a brief period?” Respondents will also indicate during the survey which sleeping position they most commonly experience sleep paralysis in. The survey will be as concise and clear as possible for the intents of the study, and will not gather information on any other factors aside from whether or not the respondent believes they regularly experience sleep …show more content…
As the exact causes of the state are finally starting to become identified, more and more research has come out on the phenomenon. Only a small amount of this research factors in sleeping position, and the majority of these rarely experiment beyond supporting the findings of the supine position as the most common in most cases of sleep paralysis. An experimental study on the rate and severity of occurrences of sleep paralysis with the variable of sleeping position will hopefully allow for a better understanding of how sleeping position factors into the phenomenon and how such an occurrence can be prevented. Future studies may address the inherent weaknesses of this study, particularly the lack of control in field testing, and may experiment with other external factors and sample characteristics, such as mental disorder or