Sleep paralysis

I have had it a few times in my life. The worst that it was is when I was working a full-time, third shift job and was going to school for biomedical sciences, so I was going straight to my university classes at 8am and would be in class until 3pm. Then I'd sleep, and have to return to work at 11pm. And do homework in there somewhere, of course. My sleep was so fragmented, and I was so tired, that my brain never knew if I was coming or going, and never fully shut down. That's my uber scientific explanation of it.

But essentially, sleep paralysis is your brain not transitioning as smoothly through the stages of sleep as you're supposed to. If you Google "sleep paralysis," there is some pretty good info out there.

I was told to start paying more attention to sleep hygiene and to relaxation in my waking life, including my caffeine intake. That usually solves the problem for me, but I know that isn't the solution for everyone.

Sleep paralysis is usually a part of the condition of going out of body during sleep. We all do it but think it's a dream. It used to happen to me all the time.

There is no evidence of this. Sleep paralysis is a condition on waking not while asleep. Providing medically inaccurate information is dangerous. It may be your opinion that it's linked to some kind of out of body experience but there is no scientific data to this end.

Also, sleep paralysis does not occur while dreaming. You are not asleep while it is happening. It specifically refers to when your brain has awoken but not turned back on the neural pathways to your body, so your body cannot move even though you are awake, hence why it is called paralysis.

i possibly wasn't clear in what I said. There are people out there who can project their consciousness whenever they want. Easy to find em on YouTube. When the subject comes up they all say sleep paralysis is the forerunner of the out of body experience -as I know from my own experience. But there could be other causes as well.

Because the person who is experiencing paralysis is in the condition where his consciousness is not linked to his physical body and therefore thinking all is normal he feels he is paralyzed. Scientists because they are interpreters of data will never get past their prejudices on some things. But there has been plenty of research on the out of body state. Many reports through history. Neil DeGrasse Tyson said it well: ALWAYS question authority.

I see what you are saying. I think you are more referring to the normal functionality of sleep paralysis, which occurs naturally during sleep, than the disordered. But I understand your theory. Thank you for clarifying.

I'd not considered the possible connection/prelude to out of body experience - I'd always assumed that waking paralysis was some kind of unexpected exit from a dream state. It hasn't happened to me very often, but I recognize the described scenario of finding oneself clearly awake & alert, but unable to move or breathe - and yes, it was very disturbing.

At the time, I linked it to situational stress - but I also wonder if it may have been a manifestation of sleep apnea, which a sleep lab test later showed that I was prone to.