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What is it? - Sleep paralysis may happen when a person wakes up and regains consciousness before they have total control of the body's motor functions.

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What is it? - The brain works as if it's still in a deep sleep, but you're able to open your eyes - which means you're part awake, and it usually creates a sense of panic. 

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Symptoms - People who suffered from sleep paralysis have claimed to feel a great pressure on their body. Some even claim to see ghosts, monsters, or scary creatures. 

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Reality or dream? - The fact that the brain is still in 'rest mode' means that you hallucinate, and you can't tell what's real and what isn't.

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Symptoms - What happens in most cases is that the victims of sleep paralysis aren't able to speak, which increases the feeling of panic. 

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Symptoms - Even though the hallucinations are specific to each person's subconscious, they tend to follow a pattern and manifest in the shape of a figure or shadow standing next to the bed. 

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Symptoms - Sleep paralysis can also create a feeling of body dissociation, which makes you feel like you're floating above you're own body.

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Frequency - Sleep paralysis episodes can happen once or become more recurrent. 

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Gender - This condition affects both males and females, but is more frequent in men.

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Age - Most episodes tend to start during adolescence, with the possibility of developing into a more recurrent condition between the ages of 20 and 30. 

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Other conditions - People who suffer from depression, anxiety and other types of mental illness are more prone to experiencing sleep paralysis, according to a study by the Pennsylvania State University.

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Remain calm - If you ever experience sleep paralysis, the most important thing to remember is that you must remain calm. Panicking will only make it worse.

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How to regain movement - It's extremely important that you recognize you're in fact having a sleep paralysis episode so you can regain control of your body. 

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How to regain movement - People who suffer from this condition regularly start by trying to move their toes first so they can regain full motor coordination little by little. 

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Breathing - A calm and controlled breathing pattern is also important in order to awaken the muscles. 

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Coughing - In some cases, trying to cough can also help wake up the body. 

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Facial muscles - Ryan Hurd, a regular sleep paralysis patient, shared on Deams Studies what he thinks is the best way to wake up from an SP episode: 'Scrunch up your face. In other words, make a face like you just smelled something bad.'

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Get out of bed - Remember to get out of bed when the episode is over so you don't slip right back into another one. Get up, turn on the light and wash your face. 

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How to treat? - This condition doesn't have a specific treatment, but a sleeping between seven to eight hours a night, having a healthy diet, and working out are all habits that can help prevent it. 

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Medical help - As with any health condition, if the episodes become too frequent, you must seek medical help. 

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Medicines - One of the medications that are said to help fight sleep paralysis efficiently is clonazepam.

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Scary stories - There is a reddit thread dedicated to sleep paralysis sufferers who want to share their experiences.

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Harmless - There aren't any registered cases of people who died because of sleep paralysis - the problem affects people psychologically more than physically. 

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Anxiety control - People who take anxiolytics are five times more prone to experiencing sleep paralysis. 

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Sleep paralysis - Hopefully this information will help you if you ever go through a SP episode. 

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