Alina Flores’s eyes flick open.

The room is dark, but she can make out the silhouette of a man at the foot of her bed. She knows he’s not a friend. Her instinct is to fling herself out of bed, to sit up, to kick: anything to make the shadow leave. But as much as she tries, she can’t move.

He places a hand on the bed. Some switch flips in Alina’s brain, and she’s terrified. It’s beyond nervous or scared, even beyond what she normally would be feeling with an intruder in her room. Blood is rushing into her temples, clouding her vision. Pure, unadulterated terror. Her mind cries again to run or fight, but her limbs are weighted down by an unseen force.

The man crawls forward until his face is even with hers. She tries to turn away, but can’t. The man’s eyes lock with hers. They are bright orange-red, radiating like fire, and the pupils are vertical black slits. His mouth opens to reveal rows of jagged teeth, Alina’s brain is screaming too loud to think, she strains against her invisible bonds but they-

Her arms jerk and she gasps. The man is gone. Her panic dissipates like fog in the midday sun.

***

From “The Roommate”



***

Alina, like 6% of the population, suffers from sleep paralysis. This condition is essentially an overlap between the waking and REM (rapid-eye movement) states of consciousness. REM is the stage of sleep when we experience dreams. During this phase, our minds operate at a level close to waking, but we perceive a constructed dream world instead of our surroundings. To keep our interactions with the dream world from spilling over into real life, we are almost completely paralyzed while in REM sleep, aside from breathing and eye movement. For most people this is not a problem, since the paralysis ends when they wake up. But during episodes of sleep paralysis, the mind wakes and the eyes open, but the body remains paralyzed. This is sometimes accompanied by dream images, often superimposed on the environment as hallucinations, and a feeling of dread or fear. (1)

This occurs most often in patients with narcolepsy, who experience it as they fall asleep roughly half of the time. Patients without the disorder experience it less frequently, but surveys suggest that at least half of the population will suffer from sleep paralysis at least once in their life. Medical students, workers with strange shifts, and anyone else with sporadic sleep schedules are most susceptible. If occurrences are hypnagogic, meaning they occur at the start of sleep, then they are often forgotten by morning. But if they are hypnapompic, occurring at the moment of waking, the memories can be vivid and disturbing. (2)

***

From the “Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy

***

When I ask Alina if it bothers her to talk about her episode with the demon-man, she shrugs. “It’s terrible at the time, but it fades really quickly. Just like a nightmare. I can remember being scared, but it’s not really scary to me anymore.”

I ask if this was true before she knew she was suffering from sleep paralysis. Her answer comes quickly. “No, it definitely used to disturb me. I’ve had them as long as I can remember, but no one could explain it to me. No one ever talks about dreams or anything being like that, you know? I couldn’t tell what was happening to me. But once I saw sleep paralysis mentioned online, I knew exactly what it was. It made me feel a lot better. I knew nothing was wrong.”

Again, I ask if there are any lingering effects. This time, she looks sideways at a painting hanging across from her bed on the dorm room wall. It’s abstract, but centered around a fiery circle reminiscent of the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings. “That painting,” she says. “I can’t stand it now. It’s right in my line of sight when I’m in bed, so it features pretty often in my sleep paralysis hallucinations. I’m not really scared of it, but it unnerves me to see it there when I’m awake, and especially when I’m trying to fall asleep.”

Why doesn’t she take it down?

“It’s my roommate’s. I’d have to explain the whole thing to her. I don’t want to seem crazy.”

***

“Incubus” from the Encyclopedia Mythica

***

Historically, sleep paralysis was believed to be caused by demons, specifically incubi and succubi. These creatures were said to visit people during the night, incapacitating them by sitting on their chests and then usually proceeding to have sexual intercourse with them. Such a visit was supposed to harm one’s health, and even cause death. (3) The Old English term for these spirits was mare, which is where we get the term “nightmare.” (4)

Today, most people know that these strange events are not the work of demons, but the concept of sleep paralysis is still not widespread in the West. Many are simply confused by the occurrences, but some attribute the experience to alien invaders. In fact, most stories of alien abduction, which almost always feature the inability to move, are thought to originate in episodes of sleep paralysis. (5)

Treatment for sleep paralysis is limited. A more regular sleep schedule can help, as can antidepressants, to an extent. But patients are still almost universally relieved to be diagnosed, simply because it offers an explanation. (6)

***





“The Nightmare” by John Fitzgerald

***

Alina pauses the longest when I ask if she wishes she never had sleep paralysis. She stares into the distance, then focuses on the painting.

“I… They’re horrible at the time, and it’s awful when you don’t understand it. But… Well, I study art history, and I know how many great works have come from rough experiences like this. Maybe whoever painted that thing saw it for the first time in a nightmare… Who am I to say it isn’t worth it?”

***

Notes:

(1) Dement’s Sleep and Dreams;pg. 468-470

(2) Dement’s Sleep and Dreams; pg. 444-445

(3) Demon Lovers; Stephens, Walter; pg. 23

(4) http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nightmare

(5) http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/journalism/ns94.html

(6) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1719336/