This is a painting entitled “The Nightmare” (1781) by Henry Fuseli and it depicts the condition of sleep paralysis/night terrors.
I used to suffer from this condition. I probably still have it but its occurrences have diminished somewhat since I started:
- Having (somewhat) regular sleep patterns,
- Getting (somewhat) more rest, and
- Moderating my caffeine intake.
Anyway, I just found out that someone close to me suffers from this condition, so I decided to read up about it again. This condition supposedly affects Asians and teens* more than it does other people, so I thought I’d post up some info here so that you can find out how to deal with this condition if you suffer from it too**:
- All in the Mind?: An article by Paul Chambers.
- Sleep paralysis: Facts and data.
and of course, how could I not leave you without
- The Horla, a short story by Guy de Maupassant***.
Have a good rest tonight.
* Coincidentally (or not), I used to get the worst attacks during my JC years.
** I realise I suffered from it for so long because:
- Of ignorance: I thought it was ‘spirits’, and the people around me weren’t inclined to discourage me from adopting that point of view, and
- It never occurred to me to do research on the conditions I was afflicted with until I was slightly older. Then again, Googling for information has become a norm, so it could also be techno-cultural evolution, I guess.
*** Oh! I think Emily Bronte and Roald Dahl may have made references to sleep paralysis in their stories (Wuthering Heights and a short story about a snake in a bed, respectively) too, although it seemed they might not have known about this condition at those times. I’ll need to dig up the stories again to be sure.
