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What Sleep Disorder Could This Be?

by Jean
(Philippines)

Hi there,


I'm just 15 years old and i experience this sleep disorder: I cannot breathe, cannot move my body, even say words but i can see my surroundngs. I cannot ask for help, then i struggle to catch my breath and after that i woke up as if i drowned. Could that be sleep apnea?


Kevin: Hi Jean, thanks for writing in! What you describe sounds very much like a little-known occurrence that people experience actually fairly commonly when awakening from sleep known as sleep paralysis. You can read about what sleep paralysis is and why it occurs here. And you can read stories from other people about sleep paralysis here.

It can be quite a terrifying experience when you don't know what's going on, but hopefully that information helps shed some light on it for you.

Warmly,
Kevin

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Welcome! This site is continuously being created by students of Dr. William C. Dement's Sleep And Dreams course at Stanford University.

We made this site as a call to action for people all over the world to live healthier, happier, safer, and more productive lives by learning about their own sleep. We have faith that reading the information provided on this site will motivate you to be smart about your sleep deprivation and strategic about your alertness in order to live life to your fullest, most energetic potential.

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Dr. Dement's pioneering textbook has been the core text for Sleep and Dreams since 1980, but it has just recently been made available to the wider public for the first time.

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More Sleep Resources

The Zeo

Track Your Own Sleep With Zeo

A revolution in personal sleep tracking, the Zeo is a wireless headband that transmits your brainwaves in realtime to a dock (pictured here) or your smartphone. The result? You can wake up and see exactly what stages of sleep you were in during the night! Unprecedented personalized sleep knowledge.

Sleep Paralysis: A Dreamer's Guide

Sleep Paralysis Treatment Book

Ever woken up paralyzed? A surprising number of us have, believe it or not. But few know the actual causes of this phenomenon, and fewer still how to exert control over it. Dream researcher and sleep paralysis expert Ryan Hurd shares breakthrough insights into how to do just that.

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