半夜驚醒突然發(fā)現(xiàn)自己動(dòng)彈不得、說不出話，你有過這種“鬼壓床”的經(jīng)歷嗎？“鬼壓床”往往還伴隨著各種解釋不清的怪異現(xiàn)象和感覺，甚至有人自稱看到了鬼。那么，真相到底是什么呢？

You jerk awake in the middle of the night in confusion. Is there a figure standing in the corner of the room? Your brain begs your limbs to move, but nothing happens. The anxiety increases. Your eyes scan the room. Just as you’re about to hit peak panic, you sit up and the figure disappears.

半夜里你突然莫名其妙地驚醒。房間的角落似乎有個(gè)人影。你想要?jiǎng)觿?dòng)四肢，但卻動(dòng)彈不得。你越來越焦慮。你的眼睛掃視著房間。就在你的恐慌情緒即將達(dá)到頂峰時(shí)，你坐起來了，那個(gè)人影也消失了。

You’ve just experienced sleep paralysis, one of many “parasomnias,” which is the name experts give to all sorts of weird things that occur during sleep.

你剛剛經(jīng)歷了睡眠癱瘓，它是眾多睡眠異常的一種。專家用睡眠異常來指代睡眠時(shí)發(fā)生的各種怪異事情。

Sleep paralysis happens when the brain incapacitates the body to prevent it from acting out the vivid dreams occurring during REM (or, rapid eye movement) sleep. It often comes with a feeling of immobility, and a sense of choking.

大腦為了阻止身體對異相睡眠（或快速眼動(dòng)睡眠）期的生動(dòng)夢境做出回應(yīng)而使身體失去活動(dòng)能力時(shí)，就會(huì)發(fā)生睡眠癱瘓，常常伴隨著一種無法行動(dòng)的感覺和一種窒息感。

incapacitate[??nk??p?s?te?t]: vt. 使無能力；使不能；使不適于

什么是睡眠癱瘓呢？

The good news is, it’s absolutely normal. Even if it’s terrifying.

好消息是，睡眠癱瘓雖然很恐怖，但絕對是正?，F(xiàn)象。

But when sleep paralysis happens outside of deep sleep — when a person is just dozing off or waking up — it can be “disruptive of the architecture of sleep,” said Baland Jalal, a researcher who investigates the phenomenon. That could lead to more sleep paralysis. People with poor sleeping habits experience the phenomenon more frequently.

但是，研究這一現(xiàn)象的科研人員巴拉德·賈拉爾說，當(dāng)睡眠癱瘓發(fā)生在深度睡眠之外——例如當(dāng)一個(gè)人只是打瞌睡或快要醒來時(shí)——它可能會(huì)“破壞睡眠結(jié)構(gòu)”。這可能會(huì)引發(fā)更多次的睡眠癱瘓。睡眠習(xí)慣差的人則會(huì)更頻繁地經(jīng)歷這種現(xiàn)象。

While the mechanisms behind sleep paralysis remain murky, Jalal said stress and worry play a part. Recent research indicates that people with anxiety and PTSD report experiencing sleep paralysis more frequently.

賈拉爾說，雖然對睡眠癱瘓背后的機(jī)制依然沒有頭緒，但壓力和擔(dān)憂是導(dǎo)致睡眠癱瘓的原因之一。最近的研究表明，患有焦慮癥和創(chuàng)傷后應(yīng)激障礙的人會(huì)更頻繁地出現(xiàn)睡眠癱瘓。

“People who are anxious have much more emotional sleep. [They] are more likely to wake up during REM,” said Jalal. “If you have sleep paralysis, you probably also have anxiety.”

“焦慮的人在睡覺時(shí)受到更多情緒影響，他們更有可能在異相睡眠期間醒來，”賈拉爾說，“如果你有睡眠癱瘓的情況，那么你也很可能感到焦慮?！?/p>

The anxiety feeds into the sleep paralysis, said Jalal. People fret about experiencing the panicky feelings of sleep paralysis, which makes it more likely to occur again.

賈拉爾說，焦慮會(huì)加劇睡眠癱瘓情況的發(fā)生。人們擔(dān)心會(huì)經(jīng)歷睡眠癱瘓的恐慌感，這反而會(huì)使它更有可能再次發(fā)生。

While about 6 percent of the population will experience sleep paralysis at one point in their lives, it occurs in about 30 to 50 percent of people with narcolepsy, a sleep disorder that includes excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations, said Dr. Nathaniel Watson, president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and co-director of the University of Washington Medical Sleep Center.

美國睡眠醫(yī)學(xué)研究院院長、華盛頓大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)睡眠中心聯(lián)合主任納撒尼爾·沃森博士說，雖然大約6%的人一生中會(huì)在某個(gè)時(shí)候經(jīng)歷睡眠癱瘓，但大約30%到50%的嗜睡癥患者中會(huì)出現(xiàn)睡眠癱瘓。嗜睡癥的癥狀包括白天過度困倦、昏睡、睡眠癱瘓和出現(xiàn)幻覺。

narcolepsy[?nɑ?rko?lepsi]: n. 嗜睡癥；發(fā)作性睡病

Students are more likely to experience sleep paralysis with as many as 28.3 percent of students reporting it.

報(bào)告顯示，學(xué)生更有可能出現(xiàn)睡眠癱瘓，比例高達(dá)28.3%。

Some people report the feeling that someone or something is trying to strangle or choke them or will see someone coming into their room and not able to move or scream, experts say. It can also happen when the person is awake, lasting from a few seconds to a minute or two. It's associated with hypnagogic hallucinations, which occur as a person is falling asleep.

專家稱，有些人報(bào)告說，睡眠癱瘓的感覺就像有人或者有東西在試圖把他們勒死或掐死，又或者是看到有人進(jìn)到了房間里，但他們卻無法移動(dòng)或者叫喊。睡眠癱瘓也有可能發(fā)生在人醒著的時(shí)候，過程會(huì)持續(xù)幾秒到一兩分鐘。它與催眠幻覺有關(guān)，通常發(fā)生在人睡著的時(shí)候。

For most people, “it is not indicative of any kind of disease,” said Watson. While the experience feels frightening, the episodes last only a few seconds or minutes at most.

沃森博士說，對于大部分人來說，“睡眠癱瘓并不意味著任何疾病”。盡管這種經(jīng)歷很恐怖，但是它每次只會(huì)持續(xù)幾秒，最多幾分鐘。

Most people slip out of it as quickly as they fell into it. A light touch from a partner can be enough to stop it, he said.
他說，大部分人一進(jìn)入睡眠癱瘓就能夠抽身而出。伴侶的輕輕觸碰就可以阻止睡眠癱瘓的持續(xù)。

鬼魂是真實(shí)存在的嗎？亦或是一種睡眠幻象？

While not everyone who has sleep paralysis experiences hallucinations, seeing a person or a ghost in the room is the most common vision, said Jalal.

賈拉爾說，并不是每個(gè)人都在睡眠癱瘓時(shí)出現(xiàn)幻象，最常見的幻象是看到房間內(nèi)有人或有鬼。

Hallucinations vary by culture — the Chinese call it “guiya” or ghost pressure because they believe a ghost sits on people’s chests. In Newfoundland, it is the “old hag” because people see a witch and in Egypt people see Jinn (what Westerns call genies), which are known to hunt and sometimes kills their victims.

這種幻覺因文化而異——中國人稱之為“鬼壓床”，因?yàn)樗麄兿嘈殴砉謺?huì)坐在人們的胸膛上。在紐芬蘭，人們稱之為“老巫婆”，因?yàn)槿藗兂霈F(xiàn)的幻覺里有一個(gè)巫婆。在埃及，人們看到的是精靈，精靈以狩獵聞名，有時(shí)會(huì)殺死他們的獵物。

These ghostly "waking dreams” can involve serpents, spiders, intruders and even ghosts. They're often associated with feelings of dread.

這些幽靈般的“醒夢”內(nèi)容可能涉及蛇、蜘蛛、入侵者甚至鬼魂。它們常常與恐懼感聯(lián)系在一起。

Some experts have suggested that alien abductions are really just intense bouts of sleep paralysis.

一些專家指出，所謂的外星人劫持其實(shí)只是睡眠癱瘓的劇烈發(fā)作。

“When you live in a culture where you are afraid of it, you are much more likely to be anxious [about sleep paralysis] and experience it,” Jalal said.

賈拉爾說：“當(dāng)你身處在自己所懼怕的文化氛圍中，你就更有可能經(jīng)歷睡眠癱瘓，并對其感到焦慮?！?/p>

Sometimes an environmental reason is the cause of the spectral vision.

有時(shí)，環(huán)境因素也會(huì)引發(fā)鬼怪的幻覺。

In 2005, the Journal of Emergency Medicine reported about a 23-year-old woman who was found delirious and hyperventilating after seeing a "ghost".

2005年，《急診醫(yī)學(xué)雜志》報(bào)道了一名23歲的女人，她在看到“鬼魂”后出現(xiàn)精神錯(cuò)亂和呼吸急促的癥狀。

“On arrival in the ED (about 30 minutes later), the patient was still hyperventilating but was able to talk. She denied taking illicit drugs or alcohol but recalled seeing a ghost while taking bath,” the researchers wrote.

研究者寫道：“到達(dá)急診室時(shí)（大約30分鐘后），患者仍然呼吸急促，但她能夠講話了。她否認(rèn)服用違禁藥物或酒精，但她回憶說洗澡時(shí)看到了鬼?！?/p>

It was later determined that her new gas water heater had been improperly installed and her house was filled with carbon monoxide. After oxygen therapy, she made a full recovery.

后來確定了是她的新燃?xì)鉄崴靼惭b不當(dāng)，導(dǎo)致她的房子里充滿了一氧化碳，她才會(huì)產(chǎn)生這種幻覺。經(jīng)過氧氣治療后，她就完全康復(fù)了。

英文來源：CNN

翻譯：實(shí)習(xí)生李行

編審：丹妮