By Ella Boyea
If balancing your schedule throughout the week is important to you, imagine not getting any sleep at night while going to school full time barely able to stay awake in class.
Sleep paralysis is a temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up according to Mayo Clinic. It lasts for a couple of minutes but keeps you up the rest of the night.
“It feels like time stops, like you are just laying there for the whole night,” 16 year old Anthony Marrero explained.
Marrero, a junior at Loy Norrix High School, is one of 8% of people who suffer from sleep paralysis.
Marrero was diagnosed with sleep paralysis when he was only 8 years old and has not been able to sleep well since. Marrero also suffers from Old Hag syndrome which is a part of sleep paralysis.
Old Hag syndrome is the sighting of a creature by various people. People feel a presence of a supernatural evilness sitting on their chest.
On top of all the homework, studying and personal activities, Marrero gets barely any sleep.
“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I get no sleep at night,” Marrero continued, “I might close my eyes for 20 minutes but then go into sleep paralysis. By Thursday, and Friday I have used all my energy so I am really tired but can’t get sleep. Saturday is the only day I get actual sleep and I sleep the whole day,” said Marrero.
Marrero says that chamomile tea helps him fall asleep sometimes. When he would go into sleep paralysis and freak out, his mom would make him tea and biscuits to help him feel better. His mom would also read him short stories to calm him down.
“Waking up from something like that always left me so afraid,” said Marrero. “So to calm me down and to put my heart and mind at ease my mom would sit me down and make me a fresh pot of tea. As a child my mom knew I loved biscuits allowing me to take however many I wanted, then read me many short stories.”
Not only does Marrero’s lack of sleep affect his personal life, it affects his school life too. Every day he has to go to school, having had no sleep and still has to do all of his work and tests. His teachers are not aware of this problem so they treat him like a regular student. This is what Anthony Marrero has to go through day in and day out.
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sammy • Feb 8, 2019 at 12:07 pm
you spelled his name wrong