Sleep Paralysis: The Original Nightmare and How it Became a Medical Phenomenon

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Description
Sleep paralysis is when a person finds themselves in a state of conscious paralysis as they are falling asleep or waking up. It is often accompanied by shallowing breathing, visual and auditory hallucinations, and a sense of terror.

Sleep paralysis is when a person finds themselves in a state of conscious paralysis as they are falling asleep or waking up. It is often accompanied by shallowing breathing, visual and auditory hallucinations, and a sense of terror. Sleep paralysis has a rich folklore consisting of sleep demons, spirits, and curses some of which are still told to children today. This thesis will explore a timeline of this folklore that involves modern day sleep paralysis, a history of sleep science, and how they collided resulting in the official diagnosis of sleep paralysis as a sleep disorder.
Date Created
2022-05
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