“What causes sleep paralysis?”
My 13 year old son started having sleep paralysis and it's terrifying. He sees a shadow standing over his bed and can't move.
3 Answers
Sleep paralysis is caused by waking up in dream sleep. Our skeleton muscles are paralyzed during our dream sleep. This phenomenon can be seen in many sleep disorders if it persists. If he’s having no daytime consequences of this issue it should be monitored conservatively. Making sure he gets adequate hours of sleep close to 9 to 10 hours per night helps prevents sleep deprivation which can cause sleep paralysis.
Probably nobody knows, but a neurologist might suggest a bedtime medicine that could help.
Sleep paralysis can be at sleep onset or sleep offset. Sleep onset paralysis happens when falling asleep and is worrisome for narcolepsy. Sleep offset paralysis happens when awakening from a dream and is a variant of normal. Sleep offset paralysis will probably improve with age and only requires reassurance. Sleep onset paralysis requires evaluation by a sleep specialist. These symptoms happen because the paralysis associated with dreaming which is normal and always present intrudes into wakefulness.
