No matter in the East or in the West, in the past few centuries, almost every culture has stories of evil creatures threatening human beings.
Many people have had the so-called “ghost pressing the bed” experience, that is, when they wake up, they find that their whole body cannot move. Although they can see the surrounding images and hear the surrounding sounds, they cannot make any sound and sometimes have hallucinations.
Many people will feel scared and intuitively think that it is caused by the suppression of unknown objects in what, so there is the saying of “ghost pressing bed”.
[Ghost Press Bed], Brain Awakens, Body Awakens
This condition is medically referred to as sleep paralysis, and refers to a brief terror experience that occurs during sleep that cannot move autonomously. It can occur during the process of falling asleep or waking up, or at night or in the morning.
Simply put, [ghost pressing the bed] means that a person has already woken up, but the body and part of the brain are still asleep and do not listen to the instructions of consciousness. Moreover, because of the panic feeling during the attack, hallucinations may occur.
Our sleep is divided into rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stages, which change alternately. First, we go through each stage of NREM sleep in turn, and then we enter REM sleep. This cycle will be repeated many times.
During REM sleep, that is, when we enter a deep sleep and begin to dream, the brain activity is similar to that when we are awake, but other systems of the whole body are very different from that when we are awake:
- The functional activities of the autonomic nervous system are unstable, such as irregular breathing, rapid heart rate increase and blood pressure fluctuation. Loss of thermoregulatory function and significant decline of various sensory functions; Except for the eye muscle, middle ear muscle and respiratory muscle, other muscles are in a state of extremely low tension.
At this time, the body is in a paralyzed state, which can ensure that our body will not make large-scale actions and behaviors under the control of dreams, hurting ourselves or the people beside our pillow.
If the consciousness wakes up at this time and the muscles of the limbs remain in a state of low tension, the body will not listen to the command of consciousness:
- No tiny movement of limbs, trunk and head can be carried out. Can’t speak, sound or call for help; Although you can breathe, you will feel embarrassed or suffocated.
In the process, our consciousness is completely clear and we can fully realize our situation. Most people will feel panic at this time, especially when they are aware of dyspnea.
Fortunately, this situation will probably ease slowly or suddenly in a few minutes.
In fact, sleep paralysis is not uncommon. It usually occurs under irregular work and rest time, high pressure, overwork, insomnia and anxiety, especially among teenagers and young people.
Most people have suffered from sleep paralysis at least once in their lives, which can be regarded as a normal physiological phenomenon. It has nothing to do with ghosts and will not have adverse effects on their health in what.
It happened, relaxation is the most important thing.
When sleep paralysis occurs, keeping relaxed and smooth breathing while trying to move the end parts of the body, such as fingers, toes or eyelids, may help interrupt the sleep paralysis process and wake up the body.
In addition, if there are people who sleep with them, they can be told to wake themselves up immediately when they hear some vague sounds or feel slight body tremors. Symptoms of sleep paralysis will disappear quickly under external stimulation.
Most people are very anxious or even dying when they first have a ghost press. Even if they recall the attack, they feel very scared, and they are also worried that another attack will probably cause a period of fear or insomnia.
But in fact, after several times, we will know that the whole process is very short and there are no adverse consequences. Therefore, we need not worry about [ghost pressing bed], we can deal with it calmly.
Work and rest healthily and stay away from [ghost press]
The pathological basis of sleep paralysis has not been found in medicine, and it is also possible for healthy people to occur, with low attack frequency and no obvious adverse consequences after the attack, so special treatment is not necessarily required.
During shifts, long-distance travel, crossing different time zones in a short period of time, irregular sleep habits, insufficient sleep and other conditions that interfere with sleep patterns may all increase the probability of sleep paralysis.
However, pay attention to the following points, still can effectively avoid [ghost press]:
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Keep a regular life and maintain a normal work and rest time.
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Avoid staying up late, keep enough sleep and improve sleep quality;
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Try to reduce the pressure in work and life;
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Pay attention to sleep posture and avoid lying on your back.
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Exercise moderately, but don’t do strenuous activities before going to bed.
Most importantly, when [ghost press] occurs, you should suggest that you are relaxed, tell yourself that you are not in danger, and remind yourself that you are not special or abnormal, which happens to many people.