Imagine this: You're fast asleep when all of a sudden you're awoken!
想像这个场景：正当你睡得很香的时候突然惊醒了！
And not by your alarm clock.
而且你不是被闹钟吵醒的。
Your eyes open, and there's a demon sitting on your chest, pinning you down.
你睁开双眼，在你的胸前坐着一个恶魔，狠狠地压住你。
You try to open your mouth and scream, but no sound comes out.
你试图张嘴尖叫，但是无法发出声音。
You try to get up and run away, but you realize that you are completely immobilized.
你试图爬起来逃跑，但是你意识到你完全无法动弹。
The demon is trying to suffocate you, but you can't fight back.
那个恶魔试图让你窒息，但是你无力反抗。
You've awoken into your dream, and it's a nightmare.
你惊醒过来，原来这是一场噩梦。
It sounds like a Stephen King movie, but it's actually a medical condition called sleep paralysis,
虽然这听起来像一部斯蒂芬.金的电影，但是这其实是一种身体状况叫做睡眠瘫痪，
and about half of the population has experienced this strange phenomenon at least once in their life.
大约一半的人在他们的一生中至少经历过一次这种奇怪的现象。

This panic-inducing episode of coming face-to-face with the creatures from your nightmares can last anywhere from seconds to minutes
这种诱发恐慌感觉与噩梦中的生物面对面的情形一般能够持续数秒或甚至几分钟，
and may involve visual or auditory hallucinations of an evil spirit or an out-of-body feeling like you're floating.
比如你正飘浮在空中。
Some have even mistaken sleep paralysis for an encounter with a ghost or an alien abduction.
一些人错误地认为睡眠瘫痪是因为碰到了鬼，或者是被外星生物绑架。
In 1867, Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell was the first medical professional to study sleep paralysis.
1867年，塞拉斯·威尔·米切尔医生成为第一个开展睡眠瘫痪研究的权威人士。
"The subject awakes to consciousness of his environment but is incapable of moving a muscle.
“研究对象对于周围环境意识清醒但是他的肌肉无法动弹。
Lying to all appearance, still asleep.
表面上看，他似乎仍然处于睡眠状态。
He's really engaged for a struggle for movement, fraught with acute mental distress.
但是其实他一直在努力挣扎，试图移动，并且脑中充斥着严重的精神压力。
Could he but manage to stir, the spell would vanish instantly."
他只能够使劲试图移动，魔鬼的力量不久就会消失。”
Even though Dr. Mitchell was the first to observe patients in a state of sleep paralysis,
尽管米切尔医生是第一个观察处于睡眠瘫痪状态中的病人的人
it's so common that nearly every culture throughout time has had some kind of paranormal explanation for it.
几乎在各种文化的历史长河中都出现过对于这个现象超自然的解释。
In medieval Europe, you might think that an incubus, a sex-hungry demon in male form, visited you in the night.
在中世纪的欧洲，人们认为这是一个魔鬼，一个性饥渴的男性魔鬼在梦中造访他们。
In Scandinavia, the mare, a damned woman, is responsible for visiting sleepers and sitting on their rib cages.
在斯堪的纳维亚，是一头母马，一个噩梦般的女人，负责造访沉睡中的人们并且坐在他们的胸廓上。
In Turkey, a jinn holds you down and tries to strangle you.
在土耳其，是一个神灵按住他们并且试图扼死他们。
In Thailand, Phi Am bruises you while you sleep.
在泰国，是寡妇鬼使他们在梦中受伤。
In the southern United States, the hag comes for you.
在美国南部，是因为女巫。
In Mexico, you could blame subirse el muerto, the dead person, on you.
一个已经死了的人压在你身上。
In Greece, Mora sits upon your chest and tries to asphyxiate you.
在希腊，是莫拉坐在胸口上试图使你窒息。
In Nepal, Khyaak the ghost resides under the staircase.
在尼泊尔，是住在楼梯下面的魔鬼凯安克。