Many people have experienced waking up from their sleep in the middle of the night and found that they cannot move. Even though they are awake and fully conscious of what is happening around them they are completely immobilised. Many have sensed a seen or an unseen presence on them or in the room. It is an extremely unnerving feeling and the person going through it is gripped by fear.

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Many people have experienced waking up from their sleep in the middle of the night and found that
they cannot move. Even though they are awake and fully conscious of what is happening around them
they are completely immobilised. Many have sensed a seen or an unseen presence on them or in the
room. It is an extremely unnerving feeling and the person going through it is gripped by fear. This
group of symptoms is popularly known, especially in the medical world, as ‘Sleep Paralyses’.
As neither the specific cause nor the explanation of the phenomenon is available all proposed
treatment for sleep paralysis is strictly empirical at best. Some say that sleep paralysis can be
controlled with Fluoxetine - type anti-depressants, which inhibit REM sleep. This is especially useful
where there is an underlying depression. Others refute the use of medication by stating.
Sometimes the most effective way to deal with the disorder is to get a clear understanding of the
disorder and develop your own effective ways of waking yourself or your partner. It is also important
to be reassured that many other people have it and that you are not the lone sufferer.
But if person will be able to send the information of sleep paralysis to any other person who can help
him at that time, this will be the best solution of it. So here is a system designed in the given research.
Sleep paralysis is a phenomenon in which an individual, either during falling asleep or awakening,
briefly experiences an inability to move, speak, or react. This is a transitional state between
wakefulness and sleep, characterized by an inability to move muscles. It is often accompanied by
hallucinations to which one is unable to react due to paralysis, and physical experiences (such as
strong current running through the upper body). These hallucinations often involve a person or
supernatural creature suffocating or terrifying the individual, accompanied by a feeling of pressure
on one’s chest and difficulty breathing. Another common hallucination type involves intruders
(human or supernatural) entering one’s room or lurking outside one’s window, accompanied by a
feeling of dead.

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One hypothesis is that it results from disrupted REM sleep (a kind of sleep that occurs at intervals
during the night and is characterized by rapid eye movements, more dreaming and bodily movement,
and faster pulse and breathing), which normally induces complete muscle atonia to prevent sleepers
from acting out their dreams. Genetics and sleep deprivation are a major cause of sleep paralysis, and
it has also been linked to disorders such as narcolepsy, migraines, anxiety disorders, and obstructive
sleep apnea. Sleeping in a fixed supine position increases the chance of sleep paralysis. About 8% of
people experience sleep paralysis at one point in their life.
Fig. 1.1 Block Diagram
Research conducted by J. Allan Cheyne (Cheyne, 2001) indicates that it happens generally when one
is going into a sleep state or coming out of a sleep state. Cheyne and some other researchers have
stated the following as some of the key observations about Sleep paralysis.
 It occurs frequently among 3-6% of the world population.
 About 30% of young adults experience Sleep paralysis at least once in their lives.
 It is more likely to happen to young adults.
 It can last from a few minutes to a few hours at a time.
 People also experience, sense or see a presence around them during their paralysed state. Fear
grips them and some of them have said that a demonic force was out to possess their soul or
was trying to crush or smother them.
 In some cases, people feel pressure or a choking sensation. This is accompanied by breathing
difficulties. In few instances, this escalates into sexual molestation or assault.
 A foul smell has been perceived at times during the paralytic attack.

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 It is more likely to happen when sleeping on one’s back (supine position).
 People who go through it are embarrassed by the event thinking that something must be wrong
with them mentally.
They are due to the activation of that part of the brain which monitors the surroundings for threats
and launches responses to perceived dangers. An activation of this part of the brain in the absence of
any real threat during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) part of sleep gives rise to a feeling of an
intimidating presence in the immediate surroundings. (REM part of sleep is that part associated with
dreaming when the eyeballs are seen to be moving rapidly.)
They are due to temporary disruption of the barrier between sleeping and waking state, so that some
sleep phenomena, of which paralysis is one, breaks into wakefulness.