Sleep paralysis is a limiting and sometimes scary experience that people can have right as they are falling asleep – or right before waking up. It might feel like you are awake but you are being held down, and you are unable to move no matter how hard you try to move your muscles. This can create a sense of panic, leading to more serious symptoms such as anxiety or hallucinations when left untreated. Let’s see how stress impacts sleep paralysis.
How Stress Impacts Sleep Paralysis
In order to better treat sleep conditions and prevent the reoccurrence of sleep paralysis, our NYC sleep doctor believes that it is important for patients to understand how stress impacts sleep paralysis and plays a vital role in the development of different sleep disorders. Below, we will talk more about the impacts of stress on overall sleep health and how you can get treated for it right away.
More About Sleep Paralysis
While it can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of sleep paralysis, there are many scientific links between this experience and symptoms of narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and other sleep conditions. When in doubt, any kind of sleeping trouble should see itself addressed right away.
Sleep paralysis works its way into your brain by disrupting your REM cycle, making it difficult for you to have healthy patterns of sleep. As your body and mind try to switch between REM and NREM sleep, it might try to wake up during this time as well. This is what causes sleep paralysis, as part of your body is ready for sleep and another part is ready to be awake.
Sleep Paralysis Symptoms
If you are unable to move or speak but you feel conscious while lying in bed, you may be struggling with sleep paralysis. Other pressing symptoms of this condition include:
- Panic, anxiety, and fear
- Visual or auditory hallucinations
- Heightened awareness of your consciousness, hearing and seeing many things
- Immense pressure on your chest and limbs
- Difficulty breathing
- Inability to speak
- Vigorous sweating
- Muscle pains
- Fatigue
- Emotional stress
If you are exhibiting one or more of the above symptoms, you might be dealing with stress-related sleep paralysis. There are many links between stress and sleep paralysis, especially in folks who are dealing with PTSD. The mind’s inability to completely turn off at night can cause a stress reaction in the body, which interrupts its normal cycles of sleep.
Treating Stress-Related Sleep Paralysis
Sleep paralysis can be treated most easily by your trusted sleep specialist. By improving your sleep schedule and working on ways to reduce stress during the day, you can steadily improve the way you sleep at night. But if your symptoms of sleep paralysis are too severe, you may need additional assistance from your local expert.
At-Home Treatments
Before you are prescribed an advanced medical treatment, your doctor will want you to try some natural remedies for sleep paralysis at home. For example, we recommend to turn off your TV and all electronic screens at least 30 minutes before you go to bed. Additionally, try to stay away from alcohol and caffeine at night. When you can go to sleep in a cool, dark, and quiet room that stays free of distractions, your body will feel instantly better.
Medical Treatments
In some cases, you may need to schedule a personal consultation with Dr. Yashar for a more involved type of treatment. Your sleep paralysis may prove linked with narcolepsy. We can treat this with medicine and other supplemental treatments. Similarly, you may show some of the signs of sleep apnea. And this can see treatment through better breathing exercises and a sleep apnea mask.
Say Goodbye to Sleep Paralysis Today
You deserve to sleep well and not suffer from sleep paralysis no matter how much stress you are under during the day. You can get rid of this pesky condition once and for all when you get in touch with us for the best sleep paralysis treatment in NYC today.
