Question: I experienced sleep paralysis twice so far. The first time it was a little scary just because I was like “WTF dude, I am totally unable to move”. But the 2nd I wasn’t scared at all just because this time I knew what was happening. Both times it was upon waking up, about 30 sec long and I overcame it by concentrating all of my will power to move my right hand. But I have some questions: what is the name of the substance that causes the sleep paralysis and is it possible to obtain or extract it in non lab conditions?Kevin’s ResponseI know, it’s crazy huh? The actual process of paralysis itself is called REM sleep atonia, but unfortunately it’s not as easy as looking at one substance or even one mechanism that causes it to happen.
I don’t know a ton yet myself on the details of how or why it happens, but I hope to learn more soon. If you’re interested in digging into it right now, here’s a paper written in 2008 by a Dr. Albert J. Berger entitled “What Causes Muscle Atonia in REM?”. Let me know if you get anything particularly useful out of it.Warmly,Kevin