Suffering from Nightmares and Sleep Paralysis? What Is the True Identity of This Frightening Night Visitor?

Modern medicine explains the phenomena of nightmares and sleep paralysis from a more specific neurological perspective. That chilling, terrifying experience you feel is a complex result produced by disruptions in sleep stages and brain malfunction. In particular, this phenomenon is medically termed sleep paralysis. It refers to a state where you cannot move your body either upon awakening or right before falling asleep, accompanied by hallucinations or a sensation of pressure. When we fall asleep, our brain passes through several stages, and the stage where dreams occur is REM sleep. During this REM sleep stage, brain activity becomes lively, nearly identical to when awake, but the brain temporarily paralyzes muscle movement so the body does not move, a state known as REM atonia. This can be called a kind of safety mechanism to keep us from actually moving our bodies and injuring ourselves when running or fighting in dreams. However, sleep paralysis occurs when this safety mechanism is not properly released or becomes tangled during the process of entering or awakening from REM sleep. The brain has already awakened and is trying to start its activity, yet the muscle paralysis of the body still persists. At this point, the conscious brain perceives this confusing situation, blurring the boundary between reality and dreams. As a result, even with your eyes open, you may see apparitions, experience chilling hallucinations as if someone is standing beside you, and feel a crushing pressure on your chest. Most people have felt that sensation at least once, where the body feels as heavy as lead. Why does this malfunction occur? The autonomic nervous system and stress hormones are deeply involved here. When stress is severe or fatigue accumulates, the autonomic nervous system balance in our body is easily disrupted. The autonomic nervous system is divided into the sympathetic nerve and the parasympathetic nerve; the sympathetic nerve tenses the body in preparation for emergencies, while the parasympathetic nerve handles rest and recovery. Under high stress, the sympathetic nerve becomes excessively active, and even when going to bed at night, the body and mind cannot sufficiently relax, causing sleep quality to decline. As light sleep occurs or the REM sleep stage becomes unstable, the likelihood of frequently having nightmares or experiencing sleep paralysis rises. Additionally, sleep deprivation, irregular sleep patterns, excessive caffeine or alcohol intake, certain medications, and psychological mental health issues such as anxiety or depression can interfere with the brain's sleep-regulating ability, triggering nightmares or sleep paralysis. What Donguibogam explained as gallbladder deficiency and liver qi stagnation, involving mental instability and accumulated stress, can be seen in modern medicine as phenomena resulting in autonomic nervous system imbalance and REM sleep dysregulation. Ultimately, in that they are warning lights sent between the body and mind, ancient wisdom and modern science are pointing toward the exact same truth.