The terrors of sleep paralysis - Ami Angelowicz
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0:06 - 0:08Imagine this:
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0:08 - 0:10You're fast asleep
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0:10 - 0:12when all of a sudden you're awoken!
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0:12 - 0:14And not by your alarm clock.
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0:14 - 0:15Your eyes open,
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0:15 - 0:17and there's a demon sitting on your chest,
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0:17 - 0:19pinning you down.
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0:19 - 0:21You try to open your mouth and scream,
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0:21 - 0:22but no sound comes out.
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0:22 - 0:24You try to get up and run away,
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0:24 - 0:27but you realize that you are completely immobilized.
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0:27 - 0:29The demon is trying to suffocate you,
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0:29 - 0:31but you can't fight back.
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0:31 - 0:33You've awoken into your dream,
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0:33 - 0:35and it's a nightmare.
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0:35 - 0:38It sounds like a Stephen King movie,
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0:38 - 0:39but it's actually a medical condition
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0:39 - 0:41called sleep paralysis,
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0:41 - 0:43and about half of the population
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0:43 - 0:44has experienced this strange phenomenon
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0:44 - 0:46at least once in their life.
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0:46 - 0:48This panic-inducing episode
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0:48 - 0:50of coming face-to-face with the creatures
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0:50 - 0:52from your nightmares
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0:52 - 0:54can last anywhere from seconds to minutes
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0:54 - 0:57and may involve visual or auditory hallucinations
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0:57 - 0:59of an evil spirit
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0:59 - 1:01or an out-of-body feeling like you're floating.
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1:01 - 1:03Some have even mistaken sleep paralysis
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1:03 - 1:05for an encounter with a ghost
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1:05 - 1:08or an alien abduction.
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1:08 - 1:11In 1867, Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell
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1:11 - 1:13was the first medical professional
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1:13 - 1:15to study sleep paralysis.
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1:15 - 1:18"The subject awakes to consciousness
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1:18 - 1:19of his environment
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1:19 - 1:21but is incapable of moving a muscle.
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1:21 - 1:24Lying to all appearance, still asleep.
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1:24 - 1:27He's really engaged for a struggle for movement,
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1:27 - 1:30fraught with acute mental distress.
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1:30 - 1:32Could he but manage to stir,
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1:32 - 1:34the spell would vanish instantly."
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1:34 - 1:36Even though Dr. Mitchell was the first
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1:36 - 1:38to observe patients in a state of sleep paralysis,
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1:38 - 1:41it's so common that nearly every culture
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1:41 - 1:42throughout time has had some kind
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1:42 - 1:45of paranormal explanation for it.
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1:45 - 1:48In medieval Europe, you might think that an incubus,
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1:48 - 1:50a sex-hungry demon in male form,
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1:50 - 1:52visited you in the night.
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1:52 - 1:54In Scandinavia, the mare,
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1:54 - 1:56a damned woman,
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1:56 - 1:57is responsible for visiting sleepers
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1:57 - 2:00and sitting on their rib cages.
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2:00 - 2:02In Turkey, a jinn holds you down
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2:02 - 2:04and tries to strangle you.
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2:04 - 2:08In Thailand, Phi Am bruises you while you sleep.
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2:08 - 2:09In the southern United States,
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2:09 - 2:12the hag comes for you.
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2:12 - 2:13In Mexico, you could blame
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2:13 - 2:16subirse el muerto, the dead person, on you.
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2:16 - 2:18In Greece, Mora sits upon your chest
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2:18 - 2:20and tries to asphyxiate you.
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2:20 - 2:22In Nepal, Khyaak the ghost
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2:22 - 2:24resides under the staircase.
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2:25 - 2:26It may be easier to blame
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2:26 - 2:28sleep paralysis on evil spirits
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2:28 - 2:30because what's actually happening in your brain
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2:30 - 2:32is much harder to explain.
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2:32 - 2:34Modern scientists believe that sleep paralysis
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2:34 - 2:36is caused by an abnormal overlap
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2:36 - 2:38of the REM, rapid eye movement,
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2:38 - 2:40and waking stages of sleep.
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2:40 - 2:43During a normal REM cycle,
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2:43 - 2:45you're experiencing a number of sensory stimuli
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2:45 - 2:47in the form of a dream,
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2:47 - 2:49and your brain is unconscious and fully asleep.
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2:49 - 2:51During your dream,
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2:51 - 2:53special neurotransmitters are released,
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2:53 - 2:56which paralyze almost all of your muscles.
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2:56 - 2:58That's called REM atonia.
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2:58 - 2:59It's what keeps you from running in your bed
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2:59 - 3:02when you're being chased in your dreams.
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3:02 - 3:04During an episode of sleep paralysis,
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3:04 - 3:07you're experiencing normal components of REM.
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3:07 - 3:09Your dreaming and your muscles are paralyzed,
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3:09 - 3:12only your brain is conscious and wide awake.
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3:12 - 3:14This is what causes you to imagine
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3:14 - 3:15that you're having an encounter
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3:15 - 3:17with a menacing presence.
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3:17 - 3:19So this explains the hallucinations,
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3:19 - 3:21but what about the feelings of panic,
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3:21 - 3:22strangling,
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3:22 - 3:23choking,
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3:23 - 3:24chest pressure
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3:24 - 3:26that so many people describe?
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3:26 - 3:28Well during REM,
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3:28 - 3:28the function that keeps you
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3:28 - 3:30from acting out your dreams,
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3:30 - 3:32REM atonia,
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3:32 - 3:33also removes voluntary control
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3:33 - 3:35of your breathing.
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3:35 - 3:36Your breath becomes more shallow
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3:36 - 3:37and rapid.
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3:37 - 3:39You take in more carbon dioxide
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3:39 - 3:42and experience a small blockage of your airway.
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3:42 - 3:44During a sleep paralysis episode,
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3:44 - 3:46a combination of your body's fear response
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3:46 - 3:48to a perceived attack by an evil creature
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3:48 - 3:50and your brain being wide awake
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3:50 - 3:53while your body is in an REM sleep state
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3:53 - 3:56triggers a response for you to take in more oxygen.
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3:56 - 3:57That makes you gasp
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3:57 - 3:58for air,
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3:58 - 3:59but you can't
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3:59 - 4:00because REM atonia
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4:00 - 4:03has removed control of your breath.
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4:03 - 4:05This struggle for air while your body sleeps
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4:05 - 4:07creates a perceived sensation
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4:07 - 4:08of pressure on the chest
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4:08 - 4:10or suffocation.
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4:10 - 4:12While a few people experience
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4:12 - 4:13sleep paralysis regularly
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4:13 - 4:15and it may be linked to sleep disorders
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4:15 - 4:17such as narcolepsy,
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4:17 - 4:19many who experience an episode of sleep paralysis
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4:19 - 4:21do so infrequently,
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4:21 - 4:23perhaps only once in a lifetime.
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4:23 - 4:24So you can rest easy,
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4:24 - 4:27knowing that an evil entity is not trying
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4:27 - 4:27to haunt,
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4:27 - 4:28possess,
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4:28 - 4:28strangle,
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4:28 - 4:30or suffocate you.
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4:30 - 4:32Save that for the horror films!
- Title:
- The terrors of sleep paralysis - Ami Angelowicz
- Speaker:
- Ami Angelowicz
- Description:
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View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-terrors-of-sleep-paralysis-ami-angelowicz
Imagine you're fast asleep and then suddenly awake. You want to move but can't, as if someone is sitting on your chest. And you can't even scream! This is sleep paralysis, a creepy but common phenomenon caused by an overlap in REM sleep and waking stages. Ami Angelowicz describes just how pervasive (but harmless) it is and introduces a cast of characters from sleep paralysis around the world.
Lesson by Ami Angelowicz, animation by Pew36 Animation Studios.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:49
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The terrors of sleep paralysis | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for The terrors of sleep paralysis | ||
Jessica Ruby approved English subtitles for The terrors of sleep paralysis | ||
Jessica Ruby accepted English subtitles for The terrors of sleep paralysis | ||
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The terrors of sleep paralysis | ||
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The terrors of sleep paralysis | ||
Andrea McDonough edited English subtitles for The terrors of sleep paralysis |