SPONTANEOUS AND INDUCED OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES DURING SLEEP PARALYSIS: EMOTIONS, “AURA” RECOGNITION, AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Sleep paralysis (SP) involves an inability to move during sleep/wake transitions and often causes distress, but out-of-body experiences (OBEs) that occur during SP tend to be pleasant. An online survey of 329 participants divided into groups based on OBE occurrence, OBE induction ability, and SP perception found that positive emotions were more common with OBEs and negative emotions with SP episodes. Participants who reported being able to induce OBEs experienced more positive emotions during episodes. Auditory, tactile, and visual sensations were perceived before SP episodes, suggesting these may serve as an “aura” of SP.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Sleep paralysis (SP) is characterized by the incapacity to perform voluntary movements during sleep/wake transitions and could bring great discomfort. During SP, Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) can occur however, they are pleasant in comparison with other SP hallucinations. Moreover, there is evidence suggesting that OBEs can be induced using behavioral techniques similar to Lucid Dreaming induction. Here, we design an online survey to study the predominant and specific emotions during SP and/or OBE events as well as the somatosensory perceptions that preceded their occurrence. The sample (N=329, 122 males, 226 females, 1 other) was divided into experimental groups depending on the presence/absence of OBE, capacity to induce (or not) OBEs and perception/no perception of the SP. We showed that more positive emotions were associated with OBEs and more negative emotions were associated with SP episodes, and for those who claim the ability to induce OBEs, positive emotions were more frequent in their episodes. We found that subjects perceived auditory, tactile, and visual sensations before SP episodes, and we proposed that these could be an “aura” of SP. Furthermore, subjects that had OBEs but had never felt the SP, perceived tactile and visual sensations to the same extent as subjects with OBEs that felt the SP, suggesting that they are having the OBE before being able to perceive the SP. Therefore, we proposed that the “aura” recognition could be used under controlled conditions for OBE induction in SP patients to diminish the negative symptoms associated with SP episodes.