How to make the ghosts in my bedroom disappear? Focused-attention meditation combined with muscle relaxation (MR therapy)—a direct treatment intervention for sleep paralysis
Baland eJalal
Frontiers in Psychology July 4, 2016 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00028 (opens in new tab)
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Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | focused inward-attention meditation muscle relaxation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Muscle relaxation Sleep paralysis Treatment intervention Focused inward-attention meditation |
| Key points | Proposes that a meditation-relaxation (MR) therapy, involving reappraisal, distancing, focused-attention meditation, and muscle relaxation, may ameliorate or eliminate sleep paralysis attacks. |
Abstract
Sleep paralysis (SP) is a common state of involuntary immobility occurring at sleep onset or offset. It can include terrifying hypnogogic or hypnopompic hallucinations of menacing bedroom intruders. Unsurprisingly, the experience is associated with great fear and horror worldwide. To date, there exist no direct treatment intervention for SP. In this article, I propose for the first time a type of focused inward-attention meditation combined with muscle relaxation as a direct intervention to be applied during the attack, to ameliorate and possibly eliminate it (what could be called, meditation-relaxation or MR therapy for SP). The intervention includes four steps: (1) reappraisal of the meaning of the attack; (2) psychological and emotional distancing; (3) inward focused-attention meditation; (4) muscle relaxation. The intervention promotes attentional shift away from unpleasant external and internal stimuli (i.e., terrifying hallucinations and bodily paralysis sensations) unto an emotionally pleasant internal object (e.g., a positive memory). It may facilitate a relaxed meditate state characterized by a shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic dominance, associated with greater levels of alpha activity (which may lead to drowsiness and potentially sleep). The procedure may also reduce the initial panic and arousal that occur when realizing one is paralyzed. In addition, I present a novel Panic-Hallucination (PH) Model of Sleep Paralysis; describing how through escalating cycles of fear and panic-like autonomic arousal a positive feedback loop is created that worsens the attack (e.g., leading to longer and more fearful episodes), drives content of hallucinations, and causes future episodes of SP. Case examples are presented to illustrate the feasibility of MR therapy for SP.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 26
- The neuropharmacology of sleep paralysis hallucinations: serotonin 2A activation and a novel therapeutic drug Psychopharmacology October 4, 2018
- Are sleep paralysis and false awakenings different from REM sleep and from lucid REM sleep? A spectral EEG analysis. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine April 1, 2021
- Sleep Paralysis, “The Ghostly Bedroom Intruder” and Out-of-Body Experiences: The Role of Mirror Neurons Frontiers in Human Neuroscience February 27, 2017
- Conceptual and clinical implications of a “Haunted People Syndrome”. Spirituality in Clinical Practice March 18, 2021
- Spontaneous and induced out-of-body experiences during sleep paralysis: Emotions, "AURA" recognition, and clinical implications. Journal of Sleep Research February 1, 2023
and 21 more in the library
Cites 19
- On some definitions of mindfulness Contemporary Buddhism May 1, 2011
- Cultural Explanations of Sleep Paralysis in Italy: The Pandafeche Attack and Associated Supernatural Beliefs. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry December 2015
- Sleep Paralysis Among Egyptian College Students: Association With Anxiety Symptoms (PTSD, Trait Anxiety, Pathological Worry). The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease November 1, 2015
- Sleep paralysis and "the bedroom intruder": the role of the right superior parietal, phantom pain and body image projection. Medical Hypotheses December 1, 2014
- Explanations of sleep paralysis among Egyptian college students and the general population in Egypt and Denmark. Transcultural Psychiatry April 2014
and 14 more in the library