I deal with this sleep paralysis on a regular basis. To the point now where I don't freak out anymore, but just wait until my muscles respond.

I found that sleep paralysis happens when dehydrated, completely exhausted, or just not enough sleep.

The thing is to understand that you are experiencing this, which is difficult when one part of the brain is trying to wake the rest of the body up. So a coat hanging on the door can become the gate to hell, or the cat sleeping next to you can become a spider the size of your PlayStation.

Before I knew what was happening I would come out of the paralysis violently, looking to kill the thing that isn't there anymore; fight or flight.

The best thing you can do for someone who experiences this is to help them understand the science behind this disorder.

Also see Exploding Head Syndrome. Cool stuff, which science can explain!

I would so watch that.

Who do you think would ally with who? I mean, you have three sides and let's assume equal numbers.

The muslims would stay the hell away from the jews. Would they try a deal with the christians? I imagine the christians would see it as beneath themselves to deal with anyone (presuming they're white americans, say). Would the jews consider reaching out to either side? It would be so interesting. I mean, no side is going to attack another without an alliance because they'd have lower numbers afterwards and would therefore be disadvantaged fighting the third group. You might even end up with an awkward peace with no fighting at all!

I can see I will be pondering this evilly for some time.>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

^I see a great reality show in this:
Fundamentalist Island: The Ultimate Grudge Match.
Radical Jews, Christians and Muslims battle for religious supremacy on a desert island, armed only with hatred and their bare hands. Last man standing gets to live on a religiously purified island... until he eventually dies alone of dehydration or scurvy, or gets run through by a wild boar or mauled by a polar bear.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

^I see a great reality show in this:
Fundamentalist Island: The Ultimate Grudge Match.
Radical Jews, Christians and Muslims battle for religious supremacy on a desert island, armed only with hatred and their bare hands. Last man standing gets to live on a religiously purified island... until he eventually dies alone of dehydration or scurvy, or gets run through by a wild boar or mauled by a polar bear.


Carlin would be proud....

^I see a great reality show in this:

Fundamentalist Island: The Ultimate Grudge Match.

Radical Jews, Christians and Muslims battle for religious supremacy on a desert island, armed only with hatred and their bare hands. Last man standing gets to live on a religiously purified island... until he eventually dies alone of dehydration or scurvy, or gets run through by a wild boar or mauled by a polar bear.

>> ^jonny:

Some seriously messed up comments here. As though highly educated humans are the only lives worthy of not having their throats slit at birth.
I didn't note any mention in the video of extraordinary measures being taken to save this life, like those often taken in the cases of premature babies. Just the opposite in fact - he just survived. Perhaps the commenters that think his parents should diaf believe the baby would have been better off being drowned at birth? Or dumped in a ditch to die quickly of dehydration/starvation? Maybe we could extend that - any toddler that doesn't walk by 18 months, or any child that doesn't quote shakespeare by 5 years is euthanized.
wtf?


Yeah, how we respond to the video probably depends on our temperament and assumptions.

Some seriously messed up comments here. As though highly educated humans are the only lives worthy of not having their throats slit at birth.

I didn't note any mention in the video of extraordinary measures being taken to save this life, like those often taken in the cases of premature babies. Just the opposite in fact - he just survived. Perhaps the commenters that think his parents should diaf believe the baby would have been better off being drowned at birth? Or dumped in a ditch to die quickly of dehydration/starvation? Maybe we could extend that - any toddler that doesn't walk by 18 months, or any child that doesn't quote shakespeare by 5 years is euthanized.

wtf?

My parents inherited some property when my grandma passed, where she used to live before she became to frail to live alone. There was a stray cat explosion there around the time she moved out of the house. Still had to maintain the place, and you'd see upwards of 20 stray cats at times. There were maybe two houses there who were guilty of buying/taking in animals they didn't properly care for. Since you can get in trouble with dogs more easily than cats, these same people tended to keep them locked in their yards slowly starving and dehydrating them. The cats roamed free, bred like crazy. People generally try to keep them fed, but it's roughly 50-75 bucks a cat to get them checked for feline leukemia and then neutered/spayed... and roughly the same if they test positive for feline leukemia and have to be put down because they'll kill all the other cats eventually if returned. And it seems like an injustice to capture them and have them all put down when they aren't hurting anyone or attacking people's pets.

Only thing that can help the problem is stricter laws on pet owners, because allowing people to continually take in/buy/adopt pets and slowly torture them to death via extreme heat/cold/lack of food/water/no vaccinations/medical treatment is not being punished severely enough to stop it. It's just too wrong to see it happen and know the law won't punish them enough to deter others.

Gotta wonder if some of these people aren't drunk but dehydrated and suffering from sunstroke/heatstroke. It'll make ya do some do some strange things. Gotten to the brink of it myself, while working on a asphalt crew in high 90 degree weather with a comfortable 100% humidity.

I always hated to drink water (unless THIRSTY)... like pulling teeth for me. I am having problems now that dehydration can partially explain. After the surgeons who cut me up last January told me DRINK MORE WATER - HYDRATE YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM, I'm a believer all of a sudden.

That guy looks seriously dehydrated BTW.
-Karl

You make a good point Kreegath, but I don't think he was talking about "need" so much as "recommended". Why is a certain amount of water recommended? There seems to be no literature to back it up. For a healthy person, your thirst is a perfectly valid indicator of how much you need.

On the other hand, mild dehydration can lead to minor problems like fatigue, irritability, and insomnia. For some people, they don't notice their thirst until they are already experiencing these symptoms, and they never thought to relate it to dehydration. So it's a good idea to simply plan certain times throughout the day to drink a glass or two.

But beyond what he said about active people, conventional wisdom among fitness professionals is that you should drink water frequently when you are trying to improve your fitness level. They claim (and I have no idea if this is backed up by any studies) that by the time you get thirsty, your body has already shut down the "recovery" mode that is needed for athletic improvement. So it's important for people losing weight or building muscle to stay ahead of your thirst.

So even though it isn't proven scientifically, there is no reason you shouldn't be drinking plenty of water. You might even see real improvements from paying attention to you hydration level. And that is going to be a different amount for every person.

This is a great video of our dog, Buddy, and a rescued baby deer. They were just playing together when this video was taken. As the deer (a buck) got bigger, he went to live on his own in the woods, but still comes back to visit our dog and cats and us every now and then. I'm sure we will eventually not see him any more, but it's nice to know that we saved him from death. When he was first found, he was dehydrated and near death on a 100+ degree summer day in Texas. After treating him for deydration and bottle feeding him daily, he eventually became strong enough to live on his own. We caught the little deer and our dog playing with the soccer ball on a few occassions before this particular day. We had to film this, as they were having so much fun running around together. Our dog loved this deer and the deer loved the dog. We often found them laying next to each other on our front porch when we awakened in the morning. Please know that the buck has now gone on to live in the wooded areas in the hill country around us. He seems right at home there. Enjoy!!!!

Fair enough...

For more than half my life, No I didn't pay for water - I had a well!
But yes, I do now pay for my tap water - no where near the cost of "bottled water" though, which is what we are talking about here.
• And when I go to restaurant, and I order a water, I don't pay for it!
• If I am anywhere a water fountain can be found, I use it - I don't go elsewhere and pay for it.
• If I am at an event in the hot, hot sun and my kids are dehydrated (I usually bring water with us but...)and I've looked everywhere for a fountain or accessible tap water and I can't find any - then, yes I pay for it because I am forced to. (I curse every time )
••• BUT we shouldn't have to be "forced" to pay for bottled water with hijacked pricing when city water is available right there and being denied to us. I am already paying for water usage from the city, so why should I be denied access to it.

• Also to note, In Quesnel (pop. 25,000), where I grew up and where a large percentage of the population uses well water. The city provides a (high volume) public tap for anyone who has undrinkable well water. This water is free of charge - no one is denied clean drinking water! People stop by with their large tanks and fill them once a week, and so on.

>> ^jimnms:
So tap water is free where you live? I get a bill from the city for my tap water.

The systemic disruption idea is interesting. One of my best friends did Biomedical science during his time at uni and we flatted together for part of it. He had a habit of going on about whatever he'd been covering in his lectures to me regardless of my interest level. Most of it was just incomprehensible page long equations, but I figured talking about it was part of his studying method so I put up with it. Still there are things he told me that stick in my mind. One of them was a brake down of what an antibiotic really is. We are Biological, 'biotic' (not to be confused with the Mass Effect appropriation of the term). An antibiotic kills things that are biological. the strongest medically utilized antibiotics kill us when they're given, they just kill bacteria faster. Similarly, fevers are a biological game of chicken, where by the 'blind watch maker' hopes to kill any invading organism with an excess of heat before we dehydrate.
This 'disrupting a complex system' technique for cancer treatment makes me wonder if a lot of the existing drugs in our arsenal might have an potential effect in the efforts against cancer.

>> ^Deano:
Amazing, how can someone emerge from that singing? I know I'd be happy but also a bit pissed off.


And she just hopped in her car and drove off. I'd thought they would give her an IV or something for dehydration besides a dasani water.