The Sunday Mail
Emmanuel Kafe
HAVE you ever failed to wake up from a terrible nightmare?
During this bad dream, you feel your heart racing.
Suddenly, you feel like you can not breath. You try harder to wake up, but a huge weight on your chest makes it almost impossible for your body to move.
The movement of your body becomes a desperate struggle.
When the body finally prevails, you snap out of the nightmare and breathe a sigh of relief. You thank your gods, or God. Many people have gone through this awful experience, which is unpleasant and frightening.
But, what exactly happens during such scary episodes?
Medically, this physiological phenomenon is referred to as sleep paralysis.
In Shona, it is known as “madzikirira”.
The African perspective associates madzikirira with demonic spirits and several myths. While science has not developed a cure for the condition, it has come up with an explanation for it.
Experts say during sleep, the brain and the body go through several stages in which activity, including breathing, slows down. As one sinks deeper into sleep, they enter the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage, where most vivid dreams take place.
At this stage, the body turns itself off and disconnects from the brain, which is a wondrous defensive mechanism that prevents humans from acting out while dreaming. This mind-body disconnection can lead to a bizarre mixture of normal wakeful awareness and dreamy consciousness. The result are the terrifying hallucinations.
Simply put, sleep paralysis is a phenomenon which typically occurs when a person is either waking up or falling asleep. During that phase, there is a temporary inability to move the body or use the voice. These hallucinations are viciously vivid and ominous, resulting in panic.
This eerie sensation lasts for a few seconds. The hallucinations are over as soon as the brain and body re-establish their usual physiological routine.
Health experts explain that sleep paralysis is a common phenomenon, adding that there is nothing paranormal about the experience.
They say the likelihood of experiencing sleep paralysis increases when one sleeps facing upwards. Stress levels, sleep deprivation during episodes of lucid dreams, the environment and irregular sleeping schedules also contribute to the occurence.
But, legend has it that spiritual possession or magic could be the cause of madzikirira. Victims of madzikirira believe that it is a demonic attack. They swear that the demons either physically attack them, thereby restricting their normal breathing or movement, or try to become intimate with them.
It is said madzikirira are accompanied by feelings of floating, falling or dissociation from the physical body.
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