Who is more likely to experience sleep paralysis?
It appears that small children are more susceptible to the effects of sleep paralysis, although the condition also appears in healthy adults. Individuals who suffer from other sleep disorders, especially narcolepsy, are much more likely to experience sleep paralysis. In fact, many episodes of sleep paralysis are the result of complications from narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder in which an individual experiences bouts of uncontrollable daytime sleepiness. One of the main symptoms of narcolepsy is cataplexy, or paralysis experienced without the loss of consciousness. Thus, it is thought that sleep paralysis may be related to narcolepsy, although many individuals who suffer from sleep paralysis do not have narcolepsy. What exactly happens to your body during an episode of sleep paralysis? Polysomnography, or a sleep recording, indicates that the body demonstrates a lack of skeletal muscle tone. The brain appears to fall into a REM stage sleep more quickly, and sleep tend
