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Do you often feel it’s hard to move when you wake up? If so, you may be afraid. You may think something terrible happened to you. As a matter of fact, many people have this experience, too. It is called sleep paralysis. Although it sounds scary, it is normal.

Sleep paralysis happens when a person is falling asleep or waking up. As the person falls asleep, his or her body slowly relaxes. Usually the person’s mind relaxes at the same time, but sometimes the mind stays awake longer than the body. As a result, the person can be conscious (清醒的), but it’s difficult to move or speak. Sleep paralysis can also happen when you wake up. Luckily, it seldom lasts for more than a few seconds. Actions and words soon return to normal.

Some people say they may hear, see, or feel things that don’t exist (存在) during sleep paralysis. At one time, people thought that ghosts came in the room and were holding them down and stopping them from moving. Science helps us understand that such visions (幻觉) are actually part of sleep paralysis. Now we know that getting too little sleep, taking some medicine and changing your sleep time can cause sleep paralysis. This condition can be scary if it happens to you, but it’s just a trick that your mind is playing on your body.