Sleep paralysis: causes, the figure you see, how to stop it

Sleep paralysis is when you wake up, fully aware, but cannot move or speak. It usually lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes, and it often comes with a strong sense that someone is in the room. It is frightening, but it is common and not dangerous. Here is what causes it, why so many people see a figure, how to get out of an episode and how to make it less likely.

What is sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis is a short moment when your mind is awake but your body is still in REM sleep. REM is the stage of sleep with the most vivid dreams. During REM your brain keeps most of your muscles still, so you do not act out your dreams. Normally that stillness switches off before you wake. In sleep paralysis it lasts a little longer than your waking mind.

It can happen as you fall asleep or as you wake up. You can usually move your eyes, and your breathing carries on by itself, even if it feels shallow. An episode ends on its own, often when you are touched, hear a sound or manage to move a finger.

It is more common than most people think. A 2011 systematic review of 35 studies, with 36,533 people in total, found that:

Group	Had at least one episode
General population	7.6%
Students	28.3%
Psychiatric patients	31.9%
People with panic disorder	34.6%

What causes sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis is caused by REM sleep and waking overlapping for a moment. Nobody knows exactly why that happens to some people more than others, but research points to a few patterns.

A 2018 review of 42 studies found it was linked to:

• Poor or broken sleep: both how people rated their sleep and sleep disruption measured in a lab.
• Stress and trauma: it was especially common in people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Anxiety: anxiety symptoms, and to a lesser degree panic disorder.
• Substance use, some physical illnesses and genetics.

These are links, not proven causes. Still, the common thread is clear: anything that throws your sleep off its usual rhythm, like jet lag, shift work, a few short nights or a stressful week, seems to make it more likely. Many people also notice it happens more when they sleep on their back.

Why do you see a figure or a demon during sleep paralysis?

You see a figure because part of your brain is still dreaming while your eyes are open. Dream images blend with the real room, and they feel completely real.

Three experiences are very common: a sense of a presence or a figure, often dark, standing by the bed; pressure on the chest, as if someone is sitting on you; and feelings of floating, spinning or leaving your body. Waking up unable to move is scary, and a frightened brain fills the scene with a threat.

Cultures around the world have names for this. In Newfoundland it is the “old hag”. In Japan it is kanashibari, which means being bound by metal. In Mexico people say “se te sube el muerto”, the dead person climbs on top of you. Henry Fuseli’s 1781 painting The Nightmare shows a creature sitting on a sleeper’s chest. Whatever your beliefs, the body side is the same everywhere: REM sleep reaching into waking.

The floating feeling has been studied too. In online surveys of sleep paralysis, out-of-body feelings were tied to sensations from the balance system, like floating and spinning. The authors describe them as a natural mix-up in how the brain joins up the sense of the body. This is also why sleep paralysis comes up so often in talk about astral projection.

How do you get out of sleep paralysis?

The most helpful thing is to remind yourself what it is: sleep paralysis, harmless, and over in moments. These steps are what people with frequent episodes tend to use. They have not been tested in trials, but they are simple and safe.

1. Name it. Tell yourself “this is sleep paralysis, it will pass”.
2. Breathe slowly. Your breathing is working, even if it feels heavy.
3. Move something small. Wiggle a finger or your toes, or scrunch your face. Small movements often break the episode.
4. Do not fight hard. Straining against the paralysis tends to feed the fear.
5. Get up for a minute afterwards. Switching on a light helps stop you sliding straight back into another episode.

Some people who practise lucid dreaming try to let the episode turn into a dream instead. That is a choice, not something you need to do.

How can you stop sleep paralysis from happening?

The best way to make sleep paralysis less likely is steady, sufficient sleep. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours a night.

• Go to bed and get up at about the same time every day, weekends too.
• Give yourself 20 to 30 minutes to wind down before bed, away from bright screens.
• Cut back on alcohol in the evening: it makes sleep lighter and more broken in the second half of the night.
• If episodes happen on your back, try sleeping on your side.
• If stress keeps you awake, deal with it earlier in the evening, not in bed.

A regular wind-down sound can be part of that routine. In Shimmr, the Awake → Asleep Shift glides from Alpha to Delta over 20 to 90 minutes and the sleep timer fades it out, so the same sound can mark bedtime each night. It will not prevent sleep paralysis, but a steady routine supports the regular sleep that does. The hypnagogic state article explains more about the drowsy edge of sleep where many episodes begin.

Is sleep paralysis dangerous?

No. Sleep paralysis is not dangerous in itself: your breathing and heart keep working, and the episode ends on its own. It can be very distressing, though, and frequent episodes can make you afraid to go to sleep.

See a doctor if it happens often, if you are very sleepy during the day, if you fall asleep suddenly without meaning to, or if your muscles go weak when you laugh or feel strong emotion. These can be signs of narcolepsy, a sleep condition that can be diagnosed and treated. A doctor can also help if anxiety or trauma is behind poor sleep.