Talk:Sleep paralysis/Archive 1

message: I originally put a link to night terror in  See Also, but then I felt I wasn't sure if it fit, so I removed it. But...I'm getting feelings of regret again and kind of feel like putting it back. I don't think there's a real strong "scientific" link between sleep paralysis and night terror, but they are kind of "contrasting" yet similar in some ways, I feel (in that sleep paralysis can induce a fearful hallucination while somewhat conscious, while night terror just puts the person in a more unconscious panic or so, though they occur at different sleep stages, from what I understand of 'em).
Anyway, I just wanted to get some "approval" of knowing if it was appropriate to stick in or not, since it's not as strongly as related as the other three "See Also's" listed. Shadowolf 09:27, 13 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Night Terror in See Also?

message: Minor change: Added literal Japanese translation for kanashibari - firstfox 15:12, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Literal Japanese translation

message: Did anyone catch that Peter Jennings special last night (2/24) on UFOs?  They mentioned sleep paralysis as a possible explanation for people thinking they were abducted from their beds.  That might be worthwhile to mention in this article.
:I think that topic is discussed in Carl Sagan's book "The Demon-Haunted World."  I don't know where my copy is, though, so I can't immediately reference it.  Joyous 22:26, Feb 25, 2005 (UTC)
:It is mentioned in the article. :-) — Frecklefoot | Talk 22:27, Feb 25, 2005 (UTC)
I agree with this statement. I once experienced sleep paralysis. I scared my out of my wits and it felt as though I was being binded by chains and could not move or even open my eyes. My dream continued on though and I became lucid, screaming and dropping to the floor in it. If you become lucid and you are dreaming about some creepy alien sci-fi spaceship situation, it is easy to see how you could be freaked out and imagine it really happened. --CherryT 01:35, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sleep paralysis and alien abductions 

message: I added the bit about Dredg's album El Cielo. It's a really great, interesting album. I recommend it.
:Please don't recommend music in articles that aren't about music. — Frecklefoot | Talk 14:08, August 15, 2005 (UTC)
The whole album is about s.p. A good portion of the lyrics come directly from letters written by people descibing thier experiences with s.p. I'm going to include it in the article. Regardless of what one thinks about the music, it is a good source for information straight from those who have experienced what the article is about.Typhoid Orchid 16:25, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sleep Paralysis and Dredg's album El Cielo 

message: Some anon user added this section back in.  I reverted it.  Read why before re-adding it.
Wikipedia is not a place for original research.  This includes adding one's own personal experiences.  If one can find a reference in a book or a website that states some experiences, it's fine to add.  But adding one's personal experiences to an article is inappropriate.  That is exactly what that whole section was—someone's personal experience with sleep paralysis.
M. van Veen, the user who added it (non-member, that is his real name), contacted me on my talk page and explained why he added it and how other users altered it.  Be that as it may, it was a personal experience or original research, neither of which is allowed on Wikipedia.
I stand by my revert.  If you want to add it back in please discuss it here first, not on my Talk page.  It is best to get more editors opinions on it than just mine.  Wikipedia is a community effort. Thank you. — Frecklefoot | Talk 14:08, August 15, 2005 (UTC)
Not only is it original research, but it seems to deviate significantly from other descriptions of sleep paralysis.  I'm going to delete it all together.--TheGrza 20:57, 16 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: M. van Veen & Sleep paralysis shows separate states

message: The intro says that the term "sleep paralysis" is used for both the normal paralaysis during REM sleep, and the pathological paralysis after waking up or before falling asleep.  It then goes on to mention the term "awareness during sleep paralysis". 
I didn't know the terminology in the field, so I believed our article. Recently someone alerted me to the fact that our terminology is non-standard. I investigated: MeSH defines "sleep paralysis" as "A common condition characterized by transient partial or total paralysis of skeletal muscles and areflexia that occurs upon awakening from sleep or less often while falling asleep. [...] The pathophysiology of this condition is closely related to the normal hypotonia that occur during REM sleep." 
A search in PubMed reveals that the term "sleep paralysis" is used in the medical literature excusively in this sense. Furthermore, a google search shows that the phrase "awareness during sleep paralysis" is not used on .edu sites, and appears to be promoted solely by the web site trionica.com. I don't know what their agenda is, but we should not adopt their neologisms. 
So I edited accordingly and directed the reader to our article on REM sleep for the explanation of REM atonia. AxelBoldt 17:26, 23 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sleep paralysis and REM atonia 

message: i have over 25 yrs  experienced  100s of regular sleep paralysis- 95% of the time it always occurs in the morning, it is very intimidating and frightining.
it is simply a feeling of compltete and utter  physical weakness , and although i have an active intrest in the paranormal -there is NO indication at all of anything remotely supernatural,  shadowy figures or incubus occuring ever  in 25 years.
intrestingly, according to my mom ,as a baby i was nearly suffocated by my brother who covered me in too many blankets, i discussed this with a psychologist as to a possible reason for my SP and i was very disappointed with her complete indifference and lack of proffesional curiosity.   t ali 22/02/06
:I had a few sleep paralysis episodes in my childhood - I think I was probably around five or six years old when they occurred. I am 32 years of age now, but I have a clear recollection of them and I remember that I found them tremendously frightening at the time. I think this is a very interesting phenomenon, and it wouldn't surprise me if it is more widespread than commonly known. Personally I kept quiet about my experiences until I - far into my adulthood - happened to learn about sleep paralysis as a clinical disorder. Jonas Liljeström 16:45, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  experiences 

message: if paralysis occurs when one is sleeping, then does the explaination for sleep walking having something to do with your body not going into paralysis?
* I have heard that that is the case, yes. With sleepwalkers, paralysis is not fully implemented during dreaming, and so the dreamer partly acts out their dream by walking.
An experience I sometimes get, one that I can't find fully described anywhere on Wiki, is, on occasions where I'm lying in bed tired but just can't get to sleep (you know what I mean), all of a sudden my body will paralyse, I'll get a tingling sensation all over, and I'll feel myself being 'dragged' into sleep and straight into a dream. It's almost like fainting, I suppose.
Anyone else ever experienced this? Martyn Smith 23:33, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sleep Walking? 

message: My mum gets this a lot, a shadowy figure over her and such... She used to have it a lot, and of course because you are overwealmed by fear, the instinctive action is to get away... to move away as fast as possible, but that never works.. because you're paralysed. What my mum tried to do (over 6 months ago) is move towards it... and she just described to me that the "spirit" broke... and the thing was over and she was happy.
I mean this is very much a personal thing, but can anyone else confirm this or suggest other techniques?
I have been exeperiencing this kind of paralysis since I was a child. I have told my mother about it and because my family is orthodox she told me to pray whenever this happens or to try to move my tongue making a cross with it. Maybe other people don't believe in God, but the effect of this technique would probably be described by science people like a way of relaxing by thinking that everything will be ok. I have also read a lot of articles and researches which said that whenever the person having an attack managed to move even the slightest muscle, excepting the eyes, the attack would vanish. Trying to move you tongue seems to be easier than trying to move any other muscle.
——
The only technique that ever worked for me was quite non-intuitive; simply try to fall back to sleep.  I tried this, and it works quite well.  You just have to convince yourself to fall back to sleep, and you will wake up seconds later with no paralysis.  I've been able to make sounds during an episode, hoping that my wife would wake me up, but that never worked.  The few times she heard something, she said it was just a very quiet moan.
Mockdwig 00:04, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Maybe a "Techniques" section? 

message: how come you wont let the fact about the Japanese think sleep paralysis is  caused by ghosts stay on the page? just wondering...
:Missing verifiable source with full citation and with indication whether its POV is folklore or pseudoscience. Jclerman 00:43, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Because not all Japanese people do think that. What are you trying to say here? If there is some traditional folklore/myth that it was due to ghosts (similar to the idea of the hag), then you should state that. Mdwh 10:59, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: PLAINLY SAID: Either include a verifiable source with full citation or delete the statement.  Jclerman 11:56, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Japanese ghosts 

message: I had an episode of sleep paralysis last night, my scariest one yet.
I was awoken by a scary, radio-like voice really close to my ear. 
It was saying something that I couldn't decifer.
I could move my eyes, but nothing else.
I tried so hard to move but it was impossible.
And it felt like something heavy was on my chest.
After a few minutes, I was able to wiggle my toes.
Then, I fell back asleep and woke up normally within what seemed like seconds.
Right before the episode, I had a series of dreams.
Like one of the above stories, I drank diet coke after 6 pm and listed in the possible causes, I was sleeping in a face up position.
Also, every time it happens, I'm sleeping in that position.
Anyway, I'm scared to go to sleep tonight. 
Aug 02, 2006, by User:207.172.121.60
Well, are you uncomfortable sleeping on your stomach or in the fetal position? That's what I would reccomend you do, though I'm no expert. By the way, have you talked to your doctor about this?69.128.211.45 15:00, 6 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  scariest night 

message: I think some mention of out of body experiences is appropriate for this article. Rather than applying a ridiculous spiritual or non-scientific explanation to sleep paralysis as was previously done, I believe the article should merely state that the symptoms of sleep paralysis are nearly identical to the precursors of obe's and parts of the experience itself.(numbness, tingling, visual/auditory hallucination) Surely there is an important connection to be made and highlighted there. With a lack of physical sensory input, the body seems to compensate through other means. If lucid dreaming is worthy of mention, certainly obe's are. The level of consciousness people report during obe's is much more akin to sleep paralysis(being fully awake as in normal life) than sleep paralysis is to dreaming, lucid or not.
Any thoughts on this?
--A.Lynn 05:38, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mention of OBE's 

message: Removed the spiritual science paragraph because the term is an oxymoron and because the paragraph presented this quackery as fact.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 192.38.5.162 (talk • contribs) .
Have reinserted the content as it is a referenced alternative insight. Your edit is unsigned. Knowledge for All 11:45, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removed quackery 

message: The last in possible causes "artifical sleeping aids or antihistimines" could be more generic or more specific.  Maybe more clear would be "certain drugs or medications such as artifical sleeping aids or antihistimines...". Excellent article, by the way! --Eurlim 05:57, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Causes 

message: I just had First Aid class in school and he told me about this sleep paralysis thing, so I came here. He said that the "Old Hag" was some sort of "Shared Memory" between people of all races. I don't see anything like this in this article. -Occono.
::SciFi. It's in the genes. Jclerman 16:24, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Find a reliable source and you can cite it. Anecdotes do not suffice.--Drat (Talk) 13:27, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

text: Someone's been watching too much Stargate -- 12.116.162.162 17:26, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Shared Memory?

message: Is sleep paralysis a state you have to enter befor you can astral travel? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 76.108.225.216 (talk) 18:02, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  astral projection 

message: The only time I ever experienced sleep paralysis was when I was coming down off of Ecstasy (MDMA). However, Ecstasy is not just MDMA, but many different drugs all in one pill. 
Cody 08:23, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I have reverted your addition, as it is original research.--Drat (Talk) 11:55, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Drug use 

message: From what I've seen, most people think you just have to wait, but when this happens to me all I have to do is concentrate really hard and jerk a part of my body like my arm, after I do that I can instantly move again.  --CHEESEWHIZ 06:18, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Unless you can find a study proving this method, it can't be added.  This is original research. Absentis 10:50, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: To move again without waiting

message: Has anyone considered listing alternate explanations for the phenomenon?  I got redirected here from "Old Hag Syndrome", which I see as a problem, since this article is about a neurological condition that is not accepted by everyone as explaining old hag attacks.  In fact, I see attempts by others to express this very thought by making edits (which seem to have been removed, justifiably, for poor articulation, etc.)
While it's true that the explanations given by different cultures are mentioned in the section about names, the bulk of the article gives the impression that the neurobiological explanation is universally accepted today, when that isn't the case.   I would say that about half the people I've asked think the attacks are in fact caused by a malevolent spirit, and see old hag attacks as distinct from, though related to, sleep paralysis as such. It might be good to at the very least mention that sleep paralysis as an explanation for old hag syndrome is disputed.--Bananasandramen 01:01, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alternate Explanations 

message: * In Newfoundland and other parts of North America, sleep paralysis is referred to as a visit from the "old hag" (Irish: Ag Rog).
* In Chinese folk culture, sleep paralysis is referred as "gǔi yà chúang" (鬼压床,鬼壓床), literally: "Ghost press bed": 鬼: ghost, 压: press, 床: bed. The belief is that a spirit or ghost is sitting or lying on top of the sleeping individual, causing the sleep paralysis.  This is thought to be a minor body possession by the forces from the dead which doesn't usually cause any harm to the victim.
* In Japan, sleep paralysis is referred to as kanashibari (金縛り, literally "bound or fastened in metal," from kane "metal" and shibaru "to bind, to tie, to fasten").
* In Thailand, this condition is said to be caused by a spirit or "pee um" (ผีอำ) which sits or lie atop of the victim causing him or her to be immobile. The spirit causes no harm to the victim and is said to only be playing pranks.
* In Scandinavian mythology, sleep paralysis was caused by a Mara, or mare - a kind of malignant female wraith who is responsible for nightmares. She appears as early as in the Norse Ynglinga saga, but the belief itself is probably even older. "Mara" is the Old Norse, Swedish and Icelandic name, "mare" is Norwegian and Danish.
* In Mexico, as Se subio el muerto (the dead has climbed on top).
* In Greek, as demonokavalikema (in Greek: δαιμονοκαβαλήκεμα), which refers to a demon having climbed on top of the body.
* In German as Hexendrücken (witch pressing).
* In Turkish, as karabasan (literally: "dark presser": kara: "dark/black":, basan: "pusher, presser".  Most Turkish people believe that it's a metaphysical incident, and especially religious people believe that it's a jini that causes the discomfort; so generally some kind of prayer is advised).
* In Hazaragi, as Shazia Zer Kado (pressing ink).
* In the Southern United States, people have described it as "The witch riding your back".
* In the Western United States, the Sleep Paralysis is commonly called "Scissor Lock".
* In Korea, it is referred as Gawinullim, (가위눌림) literally in English: "To be pressed by Gawi." The meaning of Gawi is clear, generally known to mean "spirits" or "demons." Another word in Korean "Gawi" is a homonym that means "scissors".  Such occurrences are usually referenced as "scissor lock" in English.
* In Indonesia, Javanese people call it tindihan, spelled traditionally as "tindhihen" (To be laid upon). Also in Sundanese, people call it ereup-ereup.
* In the Philippines, Sleep paralysis is often associated with Bangungot.
* In Malaysia, known as "kena himpap", meaning being pressed down. 
* In Vietnam, sleep paralysis is known as "ma đè", meaning a ghost or spirit lying on top of or pressing down on the person.
* In the West Indies, being "ridden by a duppy".
* In medieval times of Europe, attacks of sleep paralysis may have given rise to the belief in mara, incubi, succubi, other demons and witchcraft. People in England believed that witches or hags rode on men's chests as they slept, and the feeling of being unable to breathe was attributed to a hag. This is why people who have had very little sleep may be described as looking "hag-ridden".
* In traditional Russian belief symptoms reminiscent of sleep paralysis were attributed to the anger of domovoi, the home spirit, punishing people for bad husbandship or betrayal.
* According to traditional Hmong beliefs, various states of sleep paralysis are thought to be the processes in which an evil spirit or demon sits down on a person usually in retaliation to wrongdoings.  Some Hmong have deemed it as the process of getting 'squashed'.
* Traditional Islamic cultures would usually interpret this as an encounter with a Jinn (or "djinn"); a race of beings, similar to humans which inhabit the earth. The word "jinn" literally means anything which has the connotation of concealment, invisibility, seclusion and remoteness, and is one of the two beings (the other being Human) addressed directly in the Quran. In Islamic text, and scholarship, Jinns are considered beings, which like humans are accountable for their deeds and thus have free will. They are considered to have life and death, society, culture and religion. 
* In Laotian culture, it is called "pee um" translated as "ghost silencing you". The ghost or spirit is thought to visit you in the night, hold your arms and legs down, and even cover your mouth up so that no sound would come out when you scream.
* In Finnish a nightmare is called painajainen, but literally it means "pressing" and is thought to be originating from sleep paralysis sensory effects.
* In Hungarian folk culture sleep paralysis is called "lidércnyomás" ("lidérc pressing") and can be attributed to a number of supernatural entities like "lidérc", "boszorkány" (witch), "tündér" (fairy) or "ördögszerető".lidérc, Magyar Néprajzi Lexikon, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 1977, ISBN The word "boszorkány" itself stems from the turkish root "basz-", meaning "to press".boszorkány, Magyar Néprajzi Lexikon, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 1977, ISBN
* In Polish folk culture sleep paralysis is known as "dusiołek", a creature that strangles people in sleep. This creature is a character of a poem by Polish poet Bolesław Leśmian "Dusiołek".
* New-age practitioners have argued that sleep paralysis might be the point of separation of the "dream body" from the physical body and out-of-body travel then begins.
* Scientists believe that many supposed occurrences of alien abduction, out-of-body travel, and other seemingly paranormal events may actually be due to misinterpreting the sensory effects of sleep paralysis.
=== Disagreement ===
I really don't see what the harm is in letting facts come back into the article as they are referenced. Otherwise it will likely sit with that  tag forever because no one will bother. — Laura Scudder ☎ 05:39, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edited out by Laurascudder, see article's history 

message: I really don't see what the harm is in letting facts come back into the article as they are referenced. Otherwise it will likely sit with that  tag forever because no one will bother. — Laura Scudder ☎ 05:39, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Disagreement 

message: From the recent history:
*03:32, July 8, 2007 By Drat: I meant it's not encyclopedic to have a pointer to the talk page. The stuff that's been moved there can stay the hell out until refs appear.
*By Jclerman: Drat: The references have always been and still are here:, or just scroll the hell down.
Jclerman 15:04, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Confusion

message: I was stuck by the mention of sleep paralysis happening more often when sleeping face up. I can remember waking up and feeling like I couldn't move... I wanted to get up, but just couldn't seem to move anything other than my eyes, so.. I just went back to sleep =p I wonder that, in more superficial cases at least, it's just a matter of not wanting to wake up? Does this issue ever occur to anyone when woken up by something that demands an immediate response, like a loud, closeby alarm clock?
It's obviously very hard to understand your own thought processes when just waking up and very sleepy, but I've always tried to understand myself then so I can, for example, learn how to motivate myself to not sleep in. So might this be an accurate way to describe what one is thinking when experiencing sleep paralysis upon waking up?
*lying on side: symmetry is broken, less chance to feel paralyzed.
*but lying on back: symmetry. You can't decide which side to roll onto, your brain is too muzzy to think about things like that, and rolling forward into a sitting position simply takes too much effort! Faced with either having to think, having to expend nontrivial effort sitting up, or doing nothing, your brain ends up doing nothing.
Is this consistent with anyone else's observations of their motivational state and physical position when experiencing sleep paralysis upon waking? 74.61.41.118 22:31, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Paralysis when waking up, treatment/explanation? 

message: I have gotten SP many times now (over 20 to date) and lately I've been wondering if there might be some sort of a significance behind them... and if so - then how come not everyone gets them and some people get a lot of them? In each SP episode, I see things that I do not understand (the way I see things, the distortions and symbolism in these visions, the way the sound perception changes, and more), but I've been thinking that if there is something to understand through these episodes... then we surely gotta find that out!20:59, August 7, 2007 207.6.251.49
:The rational response is: "There is no significance to the visions, sounds and feelings experienced during sleep paralysis.  But, sure, they're usually scary as hell."  However, I'm sure there are hundreds of theories as to what they mean and why you must understand what they mean.  I'm sure there are as many theories to interpretations as there are ways to interpret dreams.  But of course none of these are backed up by any kind of scientific critique.  So, pick one that you fancy and interpret your experiences based on it.  Or not.
:Why do some people get them all the time and others never have them?  No idea.  Maybe people's brains aren't identical?  Me and my daughter get them, but my wife and son never do.  As the article mentions, there are some things you can do to help avoid them.  So perhaps those that don't experience them naturally avoid the risky factors. — Frecklefσσt | Talk 14:50, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  The significance of sleep paralysis? 

message: My sleep paralysis was due to a terrifying "Screamer" site experience when I was 13'ish. For about a year and a half, I would see a "Face" (Not the exact one) appear and I'd wake up, paralyzed in fear for quite a period of time. I was too scared to tell my parents. So, I tried to solve the problem myself, and started trying to 'shake' myself awake, starting with my face. It worked, and its ironic to see it as a method in this wiki article. Its the exact same thing I did, but I wasn't told to do it. I just started trying it one night. If anyone is having problems with sleep paralysis, try to train your brain to think of doing that =) Posted by anon 66.139.199.22
:Universal experiences for our species. It's in 
our genes, that's why each one of us "discovers" the same phenomena and how to react out of them. Jclerman 03:20, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  My experience... 

message: Normally a section on signs and symptoms provides a description of the phenomenon without going into speculation about what is causing it or the pathogenesis of the phenomenon.  There is currently a lot of stuff in this section that ought to be in the pathogenesis/pathophysiology section or a section on theories of causation.RFabian (talk) 17:18, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Signs and Symptoms

message: This article is about Awareness during Sleep Paralysis (ASP), and while I've seen many places where people call it just 'Sleep Paralysis', I believe that is a form of shorthand. The full name more properly describes the phenomena, and distinguishes it from normal REM atonia. --Telecart (talk) 18:20, 25 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Most scientific literature refers to ASP as simply "Sleep Paralysis", as it only physiologically similar to muscle atonia. SP is essentially a sleep pathology. Am I understanding your statement correctly? Wisdom89 (T / C) 18:28, 25 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Name?

message: From personal experience and articles I've read elsewhere, I thought that there was a frequent association between sleep paralysis and dreams of a black figure - I can see a lot of people describing these experiences in results for a google search of 'sleep paralysis "black figure"', but was wondering if anyone's aware of a formal citation.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.27.38.40 (talk) 02:43, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Common experiences

message: This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Sleep paralysis article.
This is not a forum for general discussion about the article's subject.
Can we just remove those comments? maybe move them? The S/N is getting pretty high here.
Kl4m 04:52, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I think the recommended Wiki course of action is simply to archive the heck out of this discussion page and 'start over'. But personally, I hope Wiki in general would give a little slack to this discussion page since it -is- such an intense topic. I've had it before and it isn't fun at all. Lots42 13:21, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: There, how's that? We can't keep all the issues here forever.  Archiving makes them still available, but this (now shorter) page more accessible to the greatest number of users. — Frecklefσσt | Talk 11:20, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  cleaning up talk page 

message: Why is there no mention of the effects of SP that the sufferer experiences? The majority of experiences report at least one of the following: out of body experience, loud buzzing in the ears, pressure on the body as if being pushed into the bed, malevolent presence, extreme feeling of dread...
Bigdealamerica (talk) 00:49, 23 February 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  What about OBE's? What about felt presences? 

message: I've marked a section globalize/USA because of this fragment: "... in African-Americans panic disorder often co-occurs with sleep paralysis." The article African-American itself discusses at length the intended referents of the term, but the conclusion seems to be that it refers to people living in the USA who have some black African ancestry. There are several possibilities about the sleep paralysis statement:
# it co-occurs with panic disorder in Africans and people of African descent
# it for some reason only occurs in such people when they live in the USA
# it's only been studied in the USA
Probably it should be stated which holds. Thayvian 04:20, 26 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Globalize tag 

message: Provide ISBN to the "Notes"
*Parker Johnston, states after his encounter with sleep paralysis, "I can tell you right now, if I hadn't read about this type of thing earlier, mainly the part about the hallucinations, and known exactly what was going on, what was causing it and what to expect, this would've easily been one of the most nightmarish experiences of my life" and goes on to say that "knowing is half the battle". 
Jclerman 11:22, 13 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  reference not found - see LOC and WorldCat 

message: I dispute the claim made in the article that "More often than not, sleep paralysis is believed by the person affected by it to be no more than a dream".  There's no citation and "it's only a dream" has not been my experience or the experience of anyone I've ever read about.  My experience is that SP is so potent because it doesn't feel like a dream and it takes a great deal of mental self-convincing to decide that it really was just a dream and not, for example, a reason to sleep with the lights on and a knife under the pillow and perhaps a nice exorcism of the surrounding area (just in case). --TheCynic (talk) 19:08, 23 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: No, it definitely doesn't feel "like a dream" to the person experiencing it.  It feels like being physically attacked or suffocated. — Frecklefσσt | Talk 20:07, 23 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Of course this is all anecdotal - But I concur - I have never mistaken the phenomena for a "dream" - I am fully aware and panic internally. Wisdom89 (talk) 20:10, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

text: I also agree that the "dream" statement shouldn't be in the article (especially if unverified), because it certainly doesn't feel like a dream. Even if their eyes are closed, the person is often conscious as this happens -- which is why if you ever suspect that someone is experiencing it, you should definitely ask them if everything is okay. If all they can do is twitch or mumble, you should move them a bit. -- 4.249.84.87 (talk) 02:58, 6 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Nothing more than a dream 

message: ===Tripping in a dream===
I just encountered an xkcd comic that duplicates my own personal experience, and which I assume can't be too uncommon - while in normal people sleep paralysis prevents all normal walking motions, when reacting to a stumble the mechanism seems to be bypassed.  I've been woken a dozen times myself this way, from the sensation produced after actually moving in response to a dreamed stumble (though I suppose I can't rule out that some spasm only occurring while asleep simply resembles a stumble and is interpreted as such in the dream just prior to causing wakefulness, though it seems less likely)
===Is paralysis a misnomer?===
To me the word "paralysis" seems altogether inappropriate for this situation.  Far from going limp, the muscles work, sometimes overwork, to maintain a fixed position.  Perhaps this phenomenon once served to hold our ancestors safely in trees?  I remember one occasion during which I took a moment to rest my eyes while reading a textbook, and held it open, balanced on the flat of my hand.  Two hours later I was awakened when it fell on me.  It is possible for this to cause muscle soreness, should I happen to fall asleep while in the process of trying to get up out of bed or holding up bedding in my arms, for example, and I assume that the phenomenon of a "stiff neck" happens the same way for people who experience it often.  I assume also it is the means by which storied sleeping Western gunslingers kept weapons or treasure firmly in hand, if such stories are based in reality.
===Anaesthetic properties===
The ability of this phenomenon to cause soreness depends on the lack of sensation.  Actually, it has been my perception that a broad variety of aches and pains one might have before falling asleep are relieved while this is active.
===Not all or nothing===
I've noticed that upon awakening, it seems I can retain the "paralysis" in some limbs and not others, simply by not choosing to put forward the mental effort to initialize their movement at first.  I haven't put this to any rigorous experiment, but it would seem to be a useful way of narrowing down the biological mechanisms.
Of course, I can't dump comic strips and unsourced musings into the article, but perhaps better info will turn up. Wnt (talk) 00:14, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Did you have anything to contribute to the article?  Personal experiences are original research and can't be used in articles. — Frecklefσσt | Talk 13:28, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: As I said... but perhaps observations of this type are tucked away in some of the published literature, so I mentioned these things in the hope I'd jog someone's memory.  They're not the sort of thing you can search for quickly at NCBI.  Sorry... Wnt (talk) 04:15, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

text: I'm sorry, but we cannot accept information based on personal observations, as that would be original search.--Drat (Talk) 22:23, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

text: A study charting a very strong link between paralysis and the supine pose is accessible via one of the article's existing references ( http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/prevent.html ).  Given the amount of trauma that knowledge of such details could conceivably prevent, maybe more detailed coverage of this article's findings is in order.  K2709 (talk) 17:25, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Observations: sleep paralysis while asleep 

message: I've noticed that upon awakening, it seems I can retain the "paralysis" in some limbs and not others, simply by not choosing to put forward the mental effort to initialize their movement at first.  I haven't put this to any rigorous experiment, but it would seem to be a useful way of narrowing down the biological mechanisms.
Of course, I can't dump comic strips and unsourced musings into the article, but perhaps better info will turn up. Wnt (talk) 00:14, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Did you have anything to contribute to the article?  Personal experiences are original research and can't be used in articles. — Frecklefσσt | Talk 13:28, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: As I said... but perhaps observations of this type are tucked away in some of the published literature, so I mentioned these things in the hope I'd jog someone's memory.  They're not the sort of thing you can search for quickly at NCBI.  Sorry... Wnt (talk) 04:15, 20 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Not all or nothing

message: After many years of waking up terrified as a child thanks to this condition, I realized that it never occured when I slept in a particular way. Have not had a bad night for about a decade. Added a short sentence to the Treatment section.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.33.11.70 (talk) 19:45, 16 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm sorry, but we cannot accept information based on personal observations, as that would be original search.--Drat (Talk) 22:23, 16 November 2008 (UTC)

text: A study charting a very strong link between paralysis and the supine pose is accessible via one of the article's existing references ( http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/prevent.html ).  Given the amount of trauma that knowledge of such details could conceivably prevent, maybe more detailed coverage of this article's findings is in order.  K2709 (talk) 17:25, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Added my workaround

message: -Napoleon Bonaparte-Quote: "Ah, my friend, I have had a frightful dream; a bear was tearing open my breast, and devouring my heart!" told his servant.
71.99.110.187 (talk) 13:54, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Interesting, but is it paralysis?  I'd classify this as Shamanic dismemberment experience. K2709 (talk) 22:01, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Affected famous people 

message: I suffered from this quite often before I was diagnosed and treated for sleep apnea. I found that if I crossed my eyes, the sensation would stop immediately. Should/can I add this to the article? It may help some people. If so, then where in the article?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.245.37.82 (talk) 19:51, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm sorry but no, as it would be original research. If you can find a reliable source that has written about it, however, you can add the info and cite the source.--Drat (Talk) 06:22, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Another workaround 

message: Can something be added about lucid dreams associated with sleep paralysis? When I relax during an episode and just 'go with it' instead of fighting it, I often fall into a sleeping dreamstate where I am aware that I'm dreaming and that my body is at home in sleep paralysis mode. The dreams are vivid and intense and I am totally lucid and have partial control over what is happening. The dreams are often highly symbolic with themes such as my own personal power and ability to overcome beings/people who try to exert control over me. I have always won so far.
Anyway, I've heard other people on various sleep paralysis forums discuss this connection between sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.13.78.54 (talk) 18:32, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: You can't use your personal experiences as sources in the article. These things need to have been written about by reliable, independent sources, otherwise you'll be engaging in original research.--Drat (Talk) 18:53, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

text: If you had a point, I missed it.  Did you have anything to discuss about the article? — Frecklefσσt | Talk 20:24, 6 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lucid Dreams Associated with Sleep Paralysis 

message: Many sufferers report that when in a state of sleep paralysis, focusing on moving a single body part, e.g. tip of index finger, then finger, then hand, etc, quickly alleviates the paralysis in an accelerated fashion.
I'm sure I've got refs for this somewhere so have fished it out to stop it getting lost.  Googling "sleep paralysis finger" certainly backs it up so scientific sources probably aren't too hard to find. K2709 (talk) 17:27, 23 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removed: Paralysis alleviation 

message: Hi, I'm Polish and in our folklor we call it "zmora". When somebody have 7 daughters, the last one is "her". Zmora during he day is beautiful, but seams absent, but during the night she ripps her cloths, pleats horses' tails and attacks someone, who did something wrong to her, eg. a man, who didn't find her attractive or chose some other woman, or the very woman, which was chosen instead of her. There should be something in old, Polish books, so you could verify this. That's quite old story. Oh, and you can sleep straight with your face up.
Aldona, 19/05/09  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.94.82.65 (talk) 17:38, 19 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Folklor 

message: 131.191.69.28 (talk) 00:25, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Potential Contradiction to SOME of the Sleep Paralyzed People... 

message: Under Folklore, the analysis of the character 魇 in the sentence below is incorrect, or at the least very misleading:
A more modern term is "夢魘/梦魇" (pinyin: mèng yǎn); notice that the character "魘/魇" (pinyin: yǎn) is composed of "厭/厌" (pinyin: yàn), "to detest", and "鬼" (pinyin: guǐ), "ghost, demon".
In the character 魘/魇, the 厭/厌 component is the phonetic element, i.e. it suggests the pronunciation of the character. 鬼 is the semantic element. To use the standard term, 魘/魇 is a phono-semantic compound. I just confirmed this with a dictionary. The analysis in the article implies that the 厭/厌 component contributes in some way to the meaning, which is false. Especially given this fact, any analysis of this character is of no intrinsic interest. I have thus been bold and removed the incorrect information.
--ZheXueJia (talk) 01:54, 24 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  inaccurate analysis of Chinese character 

message: I'm curious why it doesn't mention sleep paralysis not affecting the eyes. Hence, you being able to open them and look around and realise you can't move. Also, does the paralysis only affect your mind rather than your body, since your only half awake and half asleep and you can't control your body, like you wouldn't be able to when your asleep. That could explain why dreams mesh with reality. Its similar to drunks saying they see things when they are seperated from their senses and the mind is open to influence. Also why is the Folklore section not called the Theory section. The reasons they put out are based on their folklore, but the events aren't fiction.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mwarriorjsj7 (talk • contribs) 09:30, 26 October 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Questions 

message: About two years ago, I had been taking adderall for some years and began suffering from sleep paralysis mixed with a strong falling feeling. I was falling asleep around the time when the medication began wearing off and was so afraid of it happening that I would wait until I was so exhausted that it would never happen. Once I stopped taking adderall, it eventually stopped happening with the only aftereffect being somniphobia which lasts with occasional upsurges now and again. -Skyler 05:26, 7 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Adderall as a cause? 

message: In Romeo + Juliet, Mercutio gives a long monologue about the dream bearing fairy, Queen Mab. The last part of this poem seems to indicate that the fairy queen was the same as the hag, "This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs, That presses them and learns them first to bear, Making them women of good carriage: This is she—" The part about maids lying on their backs and being pressed really made the connection for me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Mab  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ray.heather (talk • contribs) 17:12, 22 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Shakespeare's Queen Mab (literary reference) 

message: Do we really need a very long list of words in various languages? This, if anything, is LISTCRUFT.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.251.129.177 (talk) 07:23, 14 January 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Folklore around the world – LISTCRUFT 

message: The one time I've experienced sleep paralysis was when going to sleep on the night I first tried mephedrone (I have since completely stopped experimenting with drugs, and never took mephedrone after that). Judging by a Google search on "mephedrone sleep paralysis", it looks like others have had the same experience. Could serotonin be playing a part in the condition?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.8.5.196 (talk) 13:46, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mephedrone 

message: folklore :  In korean culture, sleep paralysis is called gawee nulim (Hangul: 가위눌림). In general, "gawee" is a scissors, but isn't here. "Gawee" in the case of sleep paralysis is "ghost" or "the edge of blanket". so "gawee nulim" literally means "being pressed down by ghost or the edge of blanket.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.128.185.183 (talk) 07:51, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  folklore in korean culture 

message: It is writen in many meditation texts, that long time meditators are able to enter the sleep paralysis state at will, thus being able to remain in meditation for many hours, without feeling the discomfort of the body. Such technique is called Pratyahara, and its purpose is, along with others, to be able to remain awake while the body sleeps in order to better observe the mind. The main point of interest here is that these texts teach that the meditator must "overcome the fear" that first strikes the practitioner, when such experience occur. Once the adrenaline sent by the brain to wake you up sets down, fear and allucinatios fade as well, and the meditator is able to dive deep into his practise. Check the wikipedia text on Pratyahara.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 187.5.27.162 (talk) 18:39, 1 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Sleep paralysis and meditation

message: A source claimed that some scientists have linked sleep paralysis to alien abductions and ghost encounters. Upon reviewing the source, the quoted material mentioned nothing about the physiologists believing that, only that they had tested people who claimed to be abducted by aliens. I deleted the two sentences, because not only was it misquoted, but I do not think the use of Pseudo-Science is helpful to the community, and only spreads superstitious beliefs and misinformation.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.125.63.105 (talk) 03:44, 13 December 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I'll rephrase the first sentence. — Jeraphine Gryphon (talk) 07:25, 13 December 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pseudo Science explanations 

message: Hi there, New Zealand also has a version of the folklore around sleep paralysis and I'd like to add it to this page but, being inexperienced around here, I have a few questions people may be able to help me with.  
Firstly, New Zealand doesn't particularly fall into the current 'around the world' categories.  Should I make a new category or simply add it to the 'closest' one?  Perhaps it would be worth hunting down similar myths from other Oceanic or Pacific locations so that such a category would be more worthwhile?
Secondly, I managed to find a few mentions of the folklore here:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pac/mrm/mrm06.htm
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-CowFair-t1-body-d4.html
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-BroMaor-t1-body1-d4.html
but I have the feeling a proper citation should be something more robust.  Should I hunt down the source behind those pages or is there some other step I should be taking?
Thank you very much. 
WeaponsGradeHumanity (talk) 14:40, 12 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  New Zealand Folklore 

message: This article's summary paragraph is in desperate need of an "explain this to me like I'm 10" sentence. ~ Booya Bazooka 04:27, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: I've reworked the lead slightly in an effort to make it more informative to non-expert readers. Looie496 (talk) 19:04, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

text: One thumb up! — Frεcklεfσσt | Talk 21:47, 24 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  What the heck is sleep paralysis? 

message: (Incidentally, as a neurobiologist, I have to point out that it's the activity of the reticular formation, not neurohormones, that shuts down spinal motor activity.)
Also note that spinal paralysis is a REM-related phenomenon (to prevent us from leaping about and crashing into walls as we dream!
The reticular formation doesn't "disconnect" the spinal motor output during these lighter stages of sleep, which is why we humans toss and turn.
(14a) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.80.53.237 (talk • contribs) 
:Do you suppose you could fix the errors?  Regards, Looie496 (talk) 22:01, 1 May 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bad information 

message: it is too scary. it may even induce more sleep paralysis in people. if you suffer from sleep paralysis you know what i'm talking about. it's almost like you're doing it on purpose. get the picture off.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.127.245.127 (talk) 08:01, 14 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  GET THIS PICTURE OFF 

message: Buzzing or ringing sounds are also common to sleep paralysis so I was surprised this wasn't mentioned in the article. I will dig out some cites before adding this.--MijinLaw (talk) 01:29, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I was going to ask about this as well. Both my SP experiences have had distinctive audio components to them, and looking around the web it seems many others experience something similar, however I haven't found any good resource to cite about the phenomenon. 166.137.209.170 (talk) 23:02, 5 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Anecdotal I know but my SP experiences have a very large auditory component to them too; would be interested to see referenced material relating to this. Mike talk 02:12, 6 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Audio hallucinations 

message: I am not entirely sure if the following observation may be relevant or even fit into this category, however i think it may help people living through similar experiences - so in any case:
Getting the impression being unable to move while asleep whilst something is moving towards me disturbed me a couple of times. Usually, the moment the presence would have been at arms length i snapped out of the experience. I came to the realization that indeed i was not awake, but dreaming to be awake and hence unable to move and in fact this realization, as the experience repeated itself, would come quickly ("aah, been there - i am still sleeping") and with this realization i awakened every time fully, each time more quickly than before which in turn made me unable to feel threatened anymore at which point the experiences stopped. Completely.
217.89.117.154 (talk) 14:36, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: This page is not a forum for discussing the issue, but a place to discuss improving the article. Also, original research and anecdotes--such as yours--cannot be used in an article as they are not verifiable. Thank you. — Frεcklεfσσt | Talk 15:52, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  a simple explaination 

message: Hello, my name is Garrett Schwindt and I am a Junior Biopsychology major at Nebraska Wesleyan University. As a class project we are supposed to edit and make suggestions on a page of our interest to improve psychological Wikipedia pages. I have a few friendly suggestions that may be of some help to clarify this page. I am a first time Wikipedia user so please feel free to let me know what your thoughts are. 
I think as a whole this page is informative and structured well. I think some sentences could improve on flow and composition. 
In the introduction I think the sentence, "It is believed a result of disrupted REM sleep, which is normally characterized by complete muscle atonia that prevents individuals from acting out their dreams." could be changed to start out like, "It is believed to be a result..." just to make it sound more conversational and straight forward. 
The sentence that begins, "Many people that experience sleep paralysis are struck with a deep sense of terror, because they sense a menacing presence in the room while paralyzed—hereafter referred to as the intruder." might be changed to, "Those that experience sleep paralysis are often struck with a deep..." just to freshen up the sentence structure. 
The sentence that begins, "Common consequences of sleep paralysis includes headaches, muscle pains or weakness and/or paranoia." could possibly be changed to, "A common list of consequences of sleep paralysis include..." just to break up the consonance of back to back words with a hard 'C'. 
These are simply suggestions to make the article easier to read. I think the article is great and it offers a large amount of understandable information that any reader can interpret, but these are my humble suggestions. Thank you for taking the time to right this article and for reviewing my suggestions. As an undergraduate and a first time Wikipedian I greatly appreciate your time. 
Garrettschwindt (talk) 06:52, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't see a problem with your suggestions, but for those types of edits, you don't need to ask for permission first. Be bold and go ahead and make the changes. Thanks for checking in anyways. Happy editing! — Frεcklεfσσt | Talk 14:27, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Suggestions for improvement

message: The article was very well written and the flow from topic to topic sounds like a natural progression rather than being choppy.  I like how you brought in the different cultural perspectives because that is something that many psychologists tend to overlook.  The amount of cultural perspectives you brought in was astounding and I personally appreciate how much effort you put in to bringing it outside of the American perspective. You clearly did your research for this topic and brought in many of the methods used to study and diagnose the disorder. It was an easy read and very informative. Gvanstee (talk) 04:45, 31 March 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: I think you did a good job with the additions to the article, however I think they might be better earlier in that section or in a different section.  Read through the full article and check if your added content flows well with the rest.  In addition, it looks like you have part of your reference outside the reference coding (at the end of each paragraph you added).  Definitely take a look at that and fix it.  Also, I'm not sure if you saw Garret's suggestions, but if those haven't been addressed you should consider doing those.  Overall well done.  Mpetracca (talk) 16:38, 4 May 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Comments

message: There is zero evidence that sleep paralysis causes specific hallucinations with the specific subset invariant concomitants of 1) alien beings in the room 2) the immobilization of other sleepers in the room 3) floating, levitating, or passing out through physical structures such as walls and windows 4) into a UFO, with a very specific type of alien figures who 5) communicate telepathically 6) have large, deep black eyes and 7) engage in manipulative telepathic procedures aimed at eliciting or alleviating particular mental states such as 8) extreme fear and 9) sexual arousal and 10) perform semen-procurement procedures or in women gynecological or obstetric examinations 11) with a laparoscope, seemingly accurately described by normal people unfamiliar with this medical procedure who are 12) returned to their bedrooms with an hour or two of missing time and may 13) years later discover or uncover the above incidents, down to a single specific night or multiple specific nights in which 14) strange lights, landed craft, power failures - observable and observed by non-participants - also occur, many of which occurred during the 1960s and 1970s before the resulting invariant event structure was widely disseminated. This specific sleep paralysis event is all that stands in the way of serious consideration, for many people, of the alien abduction phenomenon, much of which is and has been reported by people who were 1) never in bed 2) wide awake the entire time 3) performing tasks, such as driving, that would have life-endangering consequences if sleep paralysis had really been involved. Please supply copious sources, free of speculation, that detail this specific subset of invariant event structures, particularly with reference to a testable and repeatable induction process that satisfies the standards of science so-called. The extraordinary claim that sleep paralysis=alien abduction phenomenon requires extraordinary evidence.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.25.13.90 (talk • contribs) 
:The statements in the article are not nearly as strong as you portray them, and seem to be adequately supported by references.  The article does not assert that sleep paralysis really does explain "alien abductions", only that some scientists have written about that hypothesis. Looie496 (talk) 14:34, 4 May 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  And Alien Abductions 

message: "Some scientists have proposed this condition as an explanation for reports of ghost parasites and alien visits with the means of fourth spatial dimension, thus being able to freely enter and exit a completely closed-locked room.[7][8] "
... what is this sci fi channel?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.85.221.167 (talk) 21:24, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: What's your point? — Jeraphine Gryphon (talk) 10:31, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: I tried to explain my removal of material here a few minutes ago, but I had some internet trouble and my edit seems to have disappeared.  The problem is that the sentence is virtually incomprehensible.  What are "ghost parasites"?  What does the fourth spatial dimension have to do with this?  If the sentence just said, "Some scientists have proposed this condition as an explanation for reports of ghosts and alien visits", it would be much better.  I'm not convinced that the sources are strong enough to justify including the material anyway, though. Looie496 (talk) 14:44, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
replies: text:  You're right, that's why I left out the part that said "...with the means of fourth spatial dimension, thus being able to freely enter and exit a completely closed-locked room". Like, I think I understand what it's supposed to mean but it sounds too awkward. And sadly we don't have an article about ghost parasites but I think it's relatively clear what it's supposed to mean? (Feeling parasites on/in you when there's nothing there.) We can't change it to something else if that's what the source says. Why do you think there's something wrong with the sources? I don't see it. They look like professional scientific sources to me. — Jeraphine Gryphon (talk) 14:57, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

text: Excuse me, I read your edit summary and didn't realize that you had only partly reverted my edit.  Regarding the source, per WP:MEDRS we generally prefer review papers to primary experimental research papers, as they tend to present a more consistent story.  The second source is a sort of micro-review -- a review of two studies carried out by the authors -- so its status is sort of ambiguous. Looie496 (talk) 15:24, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
replies: text:  I think those sources are just fine for the claim that we're making here. — Jeraphine Gryphon (talk) 17:10, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  This is wikipedia? 

message: Should be differentiated from nerve paralysis where you sleep on your arm, and it goes dead until you lift your head for a few seconds, then you can move it. Shoud include this DDx so as not to cause people to become alarmed that they have some sort of psychiatric condition 114.75.205.39 (talk) 03:12, 3 July 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Sleep paralysis is not a psyc condition. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 13:52, 23 February 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alarmist issue - nerve paralysis 

message: User:104.175.181.131 per your edits and your all-caps edit notes here and here, you are objecting to the content.  Would you please come and explain?  Thanks. Jytdog (talk) 15:53, 27 March 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dispute 

message: This article speaks to me!  I have suffered from SLEEP PARALYSIS for years.  I've been researching my disorder for years.  I would love to find a doctor or sleep group to join for testing and studies to find out why this happens to me.  
I'm not asking for medical advice just seeking help with my disorder.  I thought it was just me but after researching I found that there is a name for what I suffer from. I'm not sure if my medical insurance covers such a thing but it is clearly a disorder I suffer from and would love to know more about it and cures/prevention tips. Will you help me?  I can't believe how on point this article is. I will often tell my husband to wake me if he hears or sees me struggling in my sleep.  He is a witness to this and wakes me when it happens.
Bernitaweston (talk) 07:59, 25 September 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Hello .  While it is also an experience which I am familiar with, I can't say that it has been disabling, only interesting (and a gateway to other mind experiences, although admitedly frightening at first).  However, this page is for discussing improvements to the article rather than about the topic itself (WP:NOTFORUM).  Maybe a better place to ask about it here may be at science reference desk or humanities reference desk.  There probably also are other sites which are better for this.  As you already suspect, people will still avoid giving tips which could be interpreted as medical advice at the reference desks.  Thanks, —PaleoNeonate – 08:18, 25 September 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  I suffer from sleep paralysis  

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: This article is not in keeping with WP guidelines for medical research topics. In particular the section on Pathophysiology needs signficant revision.Neurorel (talk) 21:56, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  This article needs major clean up 

message: In the "Etymology" subsection of Society and Culture, I propose adding the origin of the word "sleep paralysis" which was dubbed by S.A.K. Wilson (1928). Wilson S. A. K. (1928). The narcolepsies. Brain 51 63–109. 10.1093/brain/51.1.63 De Sá, J. F. R., & Mota-Rolim, S. A. (2016). Sleep Paralysis in Brazilian Folklore and Other Cultures: A Brief Review. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1294. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01294
Furthermore, in the "Cultural significance and priming" subsection, I want to include the term "Bangungut" which is a phenomenon attributed to Philippine folklore. Bangungut in Tagalog means "nightmare" and is used to describe sleep paralysis in regards to the sensation of a malevolent creature sitting on one's chest, as well as not being able to move nor speak.Alfleesy, O. (2016). Nightmares (Bangungut) is the Leading Cause of Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death among Adults (SUNDS), its Risk Factors, and Solution. A Review of Literature. Global Journal of Medical Research,16(3). Retrieved from https://medicalresearchjournal.org/ Additionally, Bangungut is strongly associated with Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death (SUNDS) among adults, where an episode of sleep paralysis could potentially lead to this fatal disorder.Alfleesy, O. (2016). Nightmares (Bangungut) is the Leading Cause of Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death among Adults (SUNDS), its Risk Factors, and Solution. A Review of Literature. Global Journal of Medical Research,16(3). Retrieved from https://medicalresearchjournal.org/
I also want to update the "Documentary films" subsection which only displays one film, The Nightmare (2015). During my research on sleep paralysis, I found additional documentaries such as Devil in the Room (2013)Hurd, R. (2018). Watch the New Sleep Paralysis Documentary “Devil in the Room”. Retrieved from http://dreamstudies.org/ and Dead Awake (2016). I think these films would be a useful inclusion to this section, which implies the fairly recent, progressive prevalence that sleep paralysis has in the United States today.
As a WP:NEWCOMER I am absolutely open to any preliminary thoughts or helpful advice from other users before posting to the article. KrizziaP 02:34, 13 April 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Adding to the Society and Culture Section 

message: Under cultural interpretations of this disorder, only Egypt is mentioned. All Muslim communities believe  in supernatural entities called the Infatuated Demon as the culprit for a paralysis associated with perceived sexual intercourse. Reference to this should be made. Aburisha (talk) 07:08, 10 June 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Missing cultural information 

message: How to do this on tiktok I can't do it 2601:4C2:4200:B4D0:4028:EA9A:D034:1F25 (talk) 02:31, 15 January 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  How to do this on tiktok I can't do it rudjfymm