![]() Researchers define it as “a common, generally benign, parasomnia characterized by brief episodes of inability to move or speak combined with waking consciousness.” What the woman in Van Dimbroeck’s account likely experienced was a condition that has come to be known as “ sleep paralysis.” “hen she was composing her self to sleep,” explains Van Diembroeck, “sometimes she believed the devil lay upon her and held her down, sometimes that she was by a great dog or thief lying upon her breast, so that she could hardly speak or, and when she endeavored to throw off the, she was not able to stir her members.” This most unsettling experience was first clearly documented in a medical treatise in the 17th century, by Dutch physician Isbrand Van Diembroeck, who wrote about the case of a woman “50 years of age, in good plight, strong,” yet who complained of mysterious experiences at night. This terrifying and mysterious sleep disorder, or parasomnia, has been experienced by people possibly since the dawn of humankind.Īnd, it may have given rise to numerous ghost stories and mysterious accounts involving “things that go bump in the night.” Sleep paralysis is like a waking nightmare, and the underlying causes for this condition remain unclear. It may sound like a horror movie scene, but this is the real deal & you’re experiencing sleep paralysis. You try to scream, but nothing comes out. You attempt to move, but your body just will not budge. You wake up in the middle of the night, convinced that an evil figure is lying in wait.
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