Have you ever woken up from sleeping but your body felt paralyzed? Your mind was awake but your body still asleep? The ensuing terror and panic in those seconds or minutes that feel like an eternity can easily be understood, as one finally wrests free and fully wakes up.Welcome to sleep paralysis - an enigmatic condition that has been documented for hundreds of years in a myriad of cultures, steeped in folklore. I have had this condition off and on since childhood, and, like many others, I thought that I was unique and that it was a sign of a serious disorder.
Studies show more and more how common this condition, REM atnonia, actually is and how much folklore has been attributed to it. Some scientists now attribute alien abductions and encounters with ghosts to sleep paralysis. The demon on the body of a sleeping woman in ''The Nightmare,'' by Johann Heinrich Füssli (seen above), is typical of one type of sensation described by people who suffer from sleep paralysis.
Studies show more and more how common this condition, REM atnonia, actually is and how much folklore has been attributed to it. Some scientists now attribute alien abductions and encounters with ghosts to sleep paralysis. The demon on the body of a sleeping woman in ''The Nightmare,'' by Johann Heinrich Füssli (seen above), is typical of one type of sensation described by people who suffer from sleep paralysis.
Like claustrophobia, sleep paralysis is not the type of condition well suited to a New York City resident. To be stuck in a tunnel can feel a little to close to REM atonia. Today's photo is of the Park Avenue Tunnel - one of only two such underpasses in midtown Manhattan, the other being the First Avenue Tunnel near the United Nations.
I have always relished the opportunity to drive through the Park Avenue Tunnel. Going north, the tunnel starts at 33rd Street and exits at 40th Street, connecting to the Park Avenue viaduct. This elevated roadway goes directly towards Grand Central Terminal, wraps around the Terminal and MetLife buildings, and descends through the Helmsley Building to reconnect to Park Avenue at 46th Street. Read more about the tunnel here.
Many drivers take the opportunity to indulge in a rare moment of being an automobile racer - tires screeching as cars snake around the buildings' roadway are sounds often heard. See the entire journey with my photo gallery here.
It has always been a freeing experience and one of New York City's small thrills to travel this length of road (23 blocks) with only one traffic light. Luckily, I have never been trapped in a traffic jam, and I hope never to get stuck in that tunnel or viaduct. With my vehicle not moving and my mind awake, it's a little to close to the trapped horror of sleep paralysis...
More about Sleep Paralysis: This condition afflicts normal individuals and those with conditions such as narcolepsy and cataplexy. During sleep, the body essential turns off, a form of sleep atonia. In sleep paralysis, the mind awakens before the body. Read a New York Times article about it here.
Frightening twist: Among the Hmong, an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Thailand, sleep paralysis is known as "dab tsog" or "crushing demon." A number of American Hmong have died in the United States from Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS), a term created by the Centers for Disease Control. This condition is now believed to be a genetic disease, known as Brugada Syndrome, not sleep paralysis.
11 comments:
That explains a lot and won't please too much aliens' friends...
I don't have this condition but I experienced being stuck for a long while in one of Paris tunnels and took the resolution of never moving back there. :)
yep, been there done that.. screaming doesn't even work when you're in that state.. scary s*%t.. hope that doesn't happen to me again.. ;D
Thérèse - Don't blame you/
Rian, Karen - The worst feeling, isn't it?
With my vehicle not moving and my mind awake, it's a little to close to the trapped horror of sleep paralysis ...
That's an interesting analogy - I like how you develop it. Couple that with the feeling of darkness and confinement... But does it help maybe that there are other cars stuck in there with you? :)
I'm enjoying your blog by the way; lots of great windows into NYC.
Me, my sister and many others who we know have had this horrible experience, even more than one time, our people call it: Ghost pressure, yes. It is a great connection you have made between sleep paralysis and your story!
bonjour Brian, en tout cas le cerveau est réveillé et c'est ca qui compte le plus ha ha laisse le corps réveillé selon sa volonté.
merci belle journée magique.
Thank you for writing about sleep paralysis. for years I thought I was the only person who experienced it. I thought that this must be what Lou Gehrigs Disease feels like. It wore off as I got older thank goodness.
amazing picture
This was really interesting. For a second I thought you were talking about what I experience - waking up totally paralyzed. The body is completely asleep but your eyes are wide open and your mind functioning well but you just can't move anything but your eyeballs and eyelids.
ean - That is exactly what I am talking about. Horrible.
Please everyone, really, this is has been going on for too many years, all this medical talk about this 'syndrome'. When you realize that what you are experiencing is not a 'medical' phenomenon you may be better off. Most people when they experience this wake themselves up...because it is absolutely terrifying. Understood, i KNOW. But please please just try this...next time you have the feelings, the buzzings, and you get to that point where you think if you don't get yourself out of this something bad is going to happen, JUST WAIT. Don't shake yourself out of it!! Even though it feels like your death is just around the corner, it isn't!! Breathe through it, let yourself really FEEL how you can't feel your body anymore, absorb all that electrical buzzing sound and just go with it. Where you will find yourself is most amazing. We normally are not aware when our bodies take their little trips, but sometimes our brains don't go to sleep like they should and we become aware of what is happening. If you just go with it, you will have one of the most treasured experiences you can imagine. AND...you will remember it.
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