PMID- 26858675
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
DCOM- 20160209
LR  - 20200930
IS  - 1664-1078 (Print)
IS  - 1664-1078 (Electronic)
IS  - 1664-1078 (Linking)
VI  - 7
DP  - 2016
TI  - How to Make the Ghosts in my Bedroom Disappear? Focused-Attention Meditation 
      Combined with Muscle Relaxation (MR Therapy)-A Direct Treatment Intervention for 
      Sleep Paralysis.
PG  - 28
LID - 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00028 [doi]
LID - 28
AB  - Sleep paralysis (SP) is a common state of involuntary immobility occurring at 
      sleep onset or offset. It can include terrifying hypnogogic or hypnopompic 
      hallucinations of menacing bedroom intruders. Unsurprisingly, the experience is 
      associated with great fear and horror worldwide. To date, there exist no direct 
      treatment intervention for SP. In this article, I propose for the first time a 
      type of focused inward-attention meditation combined with muscle relaxation as a 
      direct intervention to be applied during the attack, to ameliorate and possibly 
      eliminate it (what could be called, meditation-relaxation or MR therapy for SP). 
      The intervention includes four steps: (1) reappraisal of the meaning of the 
      attack; (2) psychological and emotional distancing; (3) inward focused-attention 
      meditation; (4) muscle relaxation. The intervention promotes attentional shift 
      away from unpleasant external and internal stimuli (i.e., terrifying 
      hallucinations and bodily paralysis sensations) unto an emotionally pleasant 
      internal object (e.g., a positive memory). It may facilitate a relaxed meditative 
      state characterized by a shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic dominance, 
      associated with greater levels of alpha activity (which may lead to drowsiness 
      and potentially sleep). The procedure may also reduce the initial panic and 
      arousal that occur when realizing one is paralyzed. In addition, I present a 
      novel Panic-Hallucination (PH) Model of Sleep Paralysis; describing how through 
      escalating cycles of fear and panic-like autonomic arousal, a positive feedback 
      loop is created that worsens the attack (e.g., leading to longer and more fearful 
      episodes), drives content of hallucinations, and causes future episodes of SP. 
      Case examples are presented to illustrate the feasibility of MR therapy for SP.
FAU - Jalal, Baland
AU  - Jalal B
AD  - Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Department of Psychiatry, 
      University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20160129
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Front Psychol
JT  - Frontiers in psychology
JID - 101550902
EIN - Front Psychol. 2016;7:1194. PMID: 27493640
CIN - Front Psychol. 2017 Apr 03;8:506. PMID: 28421022
PMC - PMC4731518
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - attentional shifting
OT  - focused inward-attention meditation
OT  - hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations
OT  - mindfulness
OT  - muscle relaxation
OT  - sleep paralysis
OT  - treatment intervention
EDAT- 2016/02/10 06:00
MHDA- 2016/02/10 06:01
PMCR- 2016/01/29
CRDT- 2016/02/10 06:00
PHST- 2015/07/01 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2016/01/07 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2016/02/10 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2016/02/10 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2016/02/10 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2016/01/29 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00028 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Front Psychol. 2016 Jan 29;7:28. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00028. eCollection 2016.