Sleep paralysis : historical, psychological, and medical perspectives / Brian A. Sharpless, PhD, Washington State University, Karl Doghramji, MD, Thomas Jefferson University.

  • Sharpless, Brian A.
Date:
[2015]
  • Books

About this work

Description

Humans throughout history have described a peculiar state between wakefulness and sleep during which they are consciously aware of their surroundings, but physically paralyzed. Sleep paralysis is also commonly accompanied by high levels of fear, feelings of suffocation, and hallucinations (i.e., waking dreams). Early interpretations of this event were that it was an actual attack by malevolent and supernatural entities such as demons, ghosts, or witches. Some of these beliefs persist to the present day in the form of nocturnal visitations by extraterrestrials and shadow people. Sleep Paralysis.

Publication/Creation

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2015]

Physical description

xi, 287 pages : black and white illustrations ; 24 cm

Contributors

Contents

What are sleep paralysis and isolated sleep paralysis? -- Should sleep paralysis be more frequently assessed in research studies and clinical practice? -- The history of sleep paralysis in folklore and myth -- Sleep paralysis in art and literature -- Early medicine and the 'nightmare' -- Sleep paralysis : typical symptoms and associated features -- Prevalence of sleep paralysis -- Sleep paralysis and medical conditions -- Sleep paralysis and psychopathology -- Theories on the etiology of sleep paralysis -- Diagnostic criteria, diagnostic issues, and possible subtypes of sleep paralysis -- Review of measures used to assess sleep paralysis -- Differential diagnosis of sleep paralysis -- Folk remedies for sleep paralysis -- Psychosocial approaches to the treatment of sleep paralysis -- Psychopharmacology for sleep paralysis -- Conclusions and future directions.

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Languages

Subjects

Where to find it

  • LocationStatus
    History of Medicine
    PUK /SHA
    		Open shelves

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Identifiers

ISBN

  • 9780199313808
  • 0199313806