Sleep Paralysis - Cultural Significance and Its Management

摘要

cqvip:Sleep paralysis (SP) is a benign,transient episode of immobility and it lasts a few seconds to a few minutes.It can occur while falling asleep or on awakening.It is a condition of unknown etiology and all the skeletal muscles are almost ‘paralyzed’.It leads to an inability to speak or move but individual remains conscious.This review summarizes the existential clinical literature on sleep paralysis most relevant to practitioners;also summarizes the many historical and artistic manifestations of SP in different cultures.It also throws light on the available Arabic literature and others as per the aim of the review.Forthis review,literature search using engines was carried out,and review papers and original research articles were analyzed.We start with a review which summarizes the collection of symptoms,prevalence rate,risk factors and etiological theories,characteristics and classification of the SP over the past years up to the present time,also the management in the form of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy as well as the cultural significances in different countries.SP plays an important role in the genesis and maintenance of many supernatural beliefs such as nocturnal alien abductions,demonic and ghost attacks in individuals with intact reality testing.