We can dream about practically anything but it is clear that there are dreams that are more distressing than others. One of the most overwhelming dreams we can have is the one in which we cannot move a single muscle.
Does it mean anything to dream that you can’t move? It seems that there are those who argue that it is. Let’s see what they believe.
There are those who say that our dreams can be an important part of our reality, so much so that they could even tell us something. Those who consider themselves experts in the interpretation and analysis of dreams believe that what we dream is a reflection of our actions or can even predict our future. Dreaming that you can’t move may seem like a simple, not very complex dream, but dream analysts have derived several meanings from it, like all dreams.
Dream interpretation is a discipline that has traditionally been associated with psychology, although it has rather little relationship. We owe the cause (or rather the blame) to Sigmund Freud who, at the dawn of psychoanalysis, defended the idea that what we dream, that what is presented to us in our dream world, can be related to our way of being. when we are awake, our personal problems and concerns.
On the other hand, the interpretation of dreams is as reliable as astrology, the interpretation of magical runes or plucking the petals of a daisy to know if that special person loves us or not. The meaning that you want to attribute to dreams is totally free, subjective and it has more to do with our daily experiences than with what we really are or can happen to us.
Be that as it may, and whether you believe that our dreams tell us something or if you have a little common sense, below we will see what it could mean to dream that you cannot move, apart from the obvious and evident meaning of that you can’t move.
Not being able to move in dreams and their meanings
There are several meanings that supposed experts in dream interpretation attribute to dreaming that we cannot move. It may just be a hopeless dream, simply the feeling of being paralyzed by whatever phenomenon occurred within our dream, but it may also have some deeper meanings.
1. You can’t move because of helplessness
Dream interpretation advocates maintain that not being able to move while you sleep can mean frustration, helplessness, and inability to adequately manage high anxiety
It can also be related to having the feeling that we are not capable of resolving the conflicts that afflict our lives. Our frustration and helplessness towards what we would like to fix but we simply see that we cannot, overwhelms us so much that we become completely paralyzed.
2. Low self-esteem or inferiority
Another explanation given when dreaming that you cannot move is low self-esteem, which is represented in the form of the total inability to be able to move while in the dream world. I would be the manifestation of the feeling that one is inferior to the rest
This means that in a place as mysterious as dreams and where we feel very helpless, low self-esteem makes us even less capable of knowing what to do there, causing us to remain completely paralyzed.
3. You can’t move out of frustration
Dreaming that you cannot move while you are dreaming means that you cannot vent frustrations freely. You can’t scream, hit whoever you want, you can’t do anything against what you feel is hurting or distressing you. So this dream would be related to negativity and fear feeling that something very important in our lives is not under control.
4. Fear of saying or doing something harmful
There are those who say that the dream in which you cannot move is related to the fear of saying or doing something that you think could harm you. Although you could do whatever you want, because your mind is for something, you don’t do it for fear of the consequences You incapacitate yourself as a defense mechanism and protection against unwanted consequences. You don’t know what to do, because what you would like to do you think could cause problems.
We may dream of people who cannot move, totally paralyzed by something they have seen or done. This is interpreted as if someone close to you is going through a bad situation, a situation that is so terrible for them that you feel as if they are afraid and are not able to face that problem.
You may also have a certain feeling of guilt during this dream not because you were necessarily responsible but because you feel obliged to help him and you are not doing so yet.
6. Dreaming that you can’t move because you’re tired
Defenders of parapsychology see dreaming that you cannot move because you are tired as a sign of going through a period in which routine and stagnation have taken center stage. Life has become very routine, which brings with it physical and mental exhaustion. We are so tired that this tiredness sometimes transfers to our dream world making it so that even during our rest we have dreams in which we cannot move because we are so tired.
Not being able to move due to sleep paralysis
And leaving aside the mystical meanings, We leave the magical world of dreams to talk about a more earthly problem: not being able to move due to sleep paralysis Sleep paralysis is a disorder that consists of not being able to move or speak when going from sleep to wakefulness, that is, when one is waking up and acquires a minimum degree of consciousness.
The person is awake a little, but cannot move, which can cause confusion, nervousness and fear, even if it is not the first time they have experienced it. This inability to move can last between one and three minutes, and during that entire period of time the affected person is unable to move a single muscle despite being semi-conscious.
During this episode it could be said that the person in this state is cognitively awake Despite this, he experiences a sensation of paralysis in almost all of his voluntary muscles, with the exception of the eyes and respiratory diaphragm. The larynx is also paralyzed, which means that the person cannot say a word while the episode of sleep paralysis occurs.
A particularly disturbing phenomenon, a nightmare that has been transferred to the waking world, is that of hypnagogic hallucinations, which can be auditory, visual and tactile. That is, the patient suffers hallucinations due to being half awake, as if he were dreaming with his eyes open and perceiving the reality that surrounds him. He can see other people, have tingling sensations, hear voices and other symptoms that, while not indicative of a mental disorder or anything like that, are scary.
Causes of sleep paralysis
There are several causes behind an episode of sleep paralysis. Among them we have the possibility that there is another pathology, paralysis being one of its symptoms. One of them is narcolepsy, a disease in which there is difficulty staying awake during the day. Sufferers often have attacks of cataplexy, that is, paralysis of the muscles, along with sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations.
Another cause is severe sleep deprivation. The affected person may be having very irregular sleeping patterns lately, so much so that their quality of sleep is even affected. Instead of resting completely he remains half awake, entering a state of semi-consciousness and suffering the characteristic symptoms of sleep paralysis. It may also be that there are no recent sleep problems, but rather it is simply due to family inheritance.
As a general rule, sleep paralysis usually appears as an isolated symptom that does not cause great clinical concern and is not usually treated. Likewise, if it persists for more than three or four weeks in a row or the person begins to suffer a significant deterioration in their quality of life and cannot sleep properly, they should see a specialist for treatment.
