PT Health Watch: Why sleep paralysis feels like a spiritual attack — Expert

Many Nigerians experiencing the terrifying sensation of waking up unable to move, speak, or call for help often attribute it to spiritual attacks, describing feelings of being pressed down or held by unseen forces. However, health professionals clarify that this phenomenon, known as sleep paralysis, has a scientific basis within the brain's sleep cycle.

Joshua Nnatus, a senior manager at Lagos MiND and a public health professional, explained that sleep paralysis is a recognized sleep condition classified as a parasomnia. It occurs when the transition between sleep and wakefulness is misaligned. During REM sleep, the brain paralyzes voluntary muscles to prevent people from acting out dreams. In sleep paralysis, the mind awakens before this muscle paralysis is reversed, leaving the individual conscious but temporarily immobile.

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It is classified as a parasomnia, one of the sleep-related experiences recognised in the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5 and the International Classification of Sleep Disorders.

Episodes typically last from a few seconds to a couple of minutes and resolve on their own. Despite its frightening nature, sleep paralysis is relatively common, particularly among adolescents and young adults facing high stress, sleep deprivation, or irregular schedules. The sudden loss of control, combined with dream-like hallucinations, often leads to misinterpretations rooted in cultural or spiritual beliefs.

Nnatus highlighted that the experience feels supernatural due to the simultaneous occurrence of intense fear from the loss of control and vivid hallucinations, such as sensing a presence or seeing figures. These elements contribute to the common perception of sleep paralysis as something beyond a medical condition, despite its well-understood neurological underpinnings.

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The mind becomes awake and aware before the muscle switch has been turned back on.